RaXXXa
by Aragem
Summary: Xander and Rakka have a conversation about their relationship. Chapter redited.
1. Meeting

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a fic that I had growing inside my head for a while. Though I believe that Vin Diesel's role as Xander Cage in XXX isn't his best role, I still liked the character. While writing 'Too Dark to See', I started to really like my OFC Rakka and her role in the fiction. I think she may the most well developed character I ever written. I decide to use her again in a fiction for XXX. Thing was that I didn't want to redesign her personality and background so I decide to do a crossover between worlds. The majority of the story will take place in XXX's world and time. I'm going to write a few chapters and see how it turns out. I may continue this, I may not, but I also want to continue working on "Too Dark to See".

This story will take place a few years after XXX and in my fanfiction time, it will take place right after Rakka and Riddick leave Planet Haven and before they get to Planet Echo. Their ship will enter an anomaly in space, time warp stuff. Something just to get them thrown back into time and meet Xander. I'm not gonna sweat the details.

If anyone who is reading this for the first time and is wondering who the hell is Rakka, then go read "Too Dark to See" in the Pitch/Chronicles section of so that you can see how Rakka met Riddick and what their relationship is. Because if you read this, then you may be scratching your head and wondering 'what the hell is she/he talking about?'.

XXX and the Riddick universe do not belong to me, but Rakka Laotaner does.

* * *

Xander Cage, aka X, hunched over the bar. The dance club was screaming with life, sex, drugs, and booze. Bodies writhed below twisting and turning like an ocean of bodies. 

A hand touched his back and slid up his shoulder. Livia. He turned his head and placed a grin on his face. "Hey, babe."

"X, baby, why are you all alone? It's Christmas season."

Livia had tanned skin, likely from hours in a tanning bed. Her dark hair was slicked up into a pile on her head and her dress clung to her shapely body. She had layers of makeup on her face and her red lips tweaked into a smile. Her full breasts looked as if they would spill out of her low cut collar.

"Too tired out to party." X replied taking a sip from his glass.

She leaned against him, pressing her breasts his side. Her breath touched his ear. "Wanna go somewhere and party together?"

He shrugged her off his arm. "Sorry, hon, I think I'm gonna finish this drink and leave."

She studied him for a moment. "Fine, fuck you think."

She stalked away on her 500 dollar boots. X studied his drink in silence. It wasn't that he wouldn't mind fucking her. It was just that she wanted a piece of his money and mansion. Gibbons paid well for his partition in the protection of the good ole US of A. If he fucked the broad, she would be hanging around trying to impose herself as a girlfriend and maybe in her wildest dreams, wife. Bitch was from the MRS club.

* * *

Rakka touched her aching head. The last thing she remember was Riddick swearing at the controls as the robotic voice chanted that there had been an error. The stars ahead had begun to whirl and warp. Then….she was lying on the pavement wearing the whore dress she was forced to wear from the pimps. 

She pushed herself to feet. "Riddick?"

She had scraped her hands and underneath her arms. The heavy skirts of the dress protected her knees and legs. Her bare feet ached from the icy cold snow and she quickly stepped on the not much less cold gravely.

She took in her surroundings and saw that she was in a huge city, but it was so different from the City. How could they have been in space and then wound up in a city on a planet? Where was Riddick? Was he around?

"Pretty dress!"

Rakka flung herself around. Creeping in the shadow of the alley was a woman wearing soiled garments and looked as if she been sleeping on the streets for weeks. She pushed a cart in front of her. She admired Rakka's dress with old gray eyes.

"Th….thank you." Was all Rakka could reply. "Do…you know what city this is?"

"New York."

Rakka blinked her eyes. New York. That was a city on planet Earth, the birth planet. But the Green System was light years and light years away. It would take her and Riddick 30 years to travel all the way from the Green System to Earth. There was no way unless they were in cryo.

"Did you see anyone else around? I'm looking for a large man, bald, wearing all black and goggles."

"I seens a big bald guy go into that building over there." The woman pointed to a bright building from which loud music was ranging. "Wanna trade for the dress?"

"Excuse?"

"Wanna trade for the dress?"

"Uhhhhh……"

"I gots clothes. Don't need to walk around naked. See!" The woman held up several pair of jeans and shirts.

Rakka glanced down at the dress. It was ripped a few places from the massacre at Helmer's party and a little blood was still on the hem. Though it was beautiful, Rakka hated it. She was made to wear it to sleep with Helmer, her would be john.

"Do you have any shoes?"

Rakka emerged from the alley ten minutes later. She wore jeans, a sleeveless white blouse, and low heel boots. She managed to get a dirty sweater out of the deal with the woman. When the woman saw the teddy and garters, she demanded those two in the deal. Rakka felt like she got ripped off by the woman and had no bra.

She trotted across the street toward the bright lights of the building. It was a night club and crowds of people were lined up outside to enter. A large black man wearing black jeans, a red top, and a thick leather jacket stood at the entrance thick arms over his chest.

Rakka made her toward the front of the line. She wasn't planning on breaking in line, she wanted to ask the man if Riddick had enter. Some people yelled angrily at her, but she ignored them and managed to get her way to the front.

The large regarded her with dark eyes. She swallowed and forced herself through it. "I….I'm looking for someone."

"Ain't we all." The man returned.

"I mean I'm looking for someone I know. We got separated and someone told me that he may have went inside."

The man rolled his eyes and sighed. "Baby, that has got to be the oldest trick in the book. You ain't gettin' inside without invitation."

"I'm not asking to get inside. I am asking if you seen a large, bald man wearing goggles and if you did, tell him that a Rakka is looking for him."

"I ain't a messenger."

"Did you see a man wearing black goggles and with a bald head come in." Rakka gritted her teeth.

"He yore boyfriend or somethin'?"

Rakka placed her hands over her face. Denying it would only encourage the idea that she was Riddick's 'girlfriend'. "Yes, I am. I have to tell him that I'm pregnant so that I can suck him dry for child support."

The man threw his head back and laughed. "Alright, girl, I'll let ya in to get the bastard."

He stepped aside and people started shouting and complaining.

"Motherfucker! I offered you 300 to let me in!"

"She ain't got shit!"

"Fucking unfair!"

"Goddammit!"

Rakka hurried inside and was swamped by the crowd of dancing bodies. She struggled through them, brushing against bodies. She looked up to the upper balconies and caught…..a glimpse of a bald head.

She shoved her way through hurrying toward the set of stairs that led upward.

* * *

X was considering whether or not it would be a good time to head on back to the mansion when…… 

"Riddick?"

He looked up and saw a woman standing near him and staring at him with wide blue-violet eyes. He never has seen anyone with such purple eyes before. She wore her head down her back and it was a bit tangled. Her clothes were wrinkled and looked dirty. He wondered how she got inside the club looking like she lived off the street. It must be because she was pretty with her copper blonde hair and exotic eyes.

He smirked at her and leaned back from the bar and said, "For you, I could be."

* * *

She stared at the man who wore Riddick's face, spoke with Riddick's voice, and had Riddick's body…..but was not Riddick at all. The man looked years younger than Riddick and he had blazing tattoos on his arms. He wore a boyish look on his face as his eyes, which were dark, not silver, appraised her. The tense, threatening potential violence that seemed to surround Riddick was not present around this one. 

"For you, I could be."

She stepped back. "No….I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else. I'm sorry."

She dashed away and headed for the nearest set of stairs that led to the uppermost balconies.

X watched her go. He was taken aback by her reaction to him. It wasn't the first time he was rejected. Women who had boyfriends waiting, married, women who were into other women. Yelena…..he didn't want to think about that.

The woman looked a bit afraid of him. He liked being thought of as a tough guy, but he never scared the hell out of woman. He pondered whether or not to follow her up to the rafters when he spotted the man.

He was wearing a black trench coat and he was gazing at the stairs that girl had taken. X has seen his kind before. The kind that haunted clubs, bars, and parties. The kind that slipped roofies into girls' drinks, waited till one was alone in the bathroom, or waited until they were wasted or too high to notice they were being rapped. A predator who had already seen his prey.

The man slipped up the stairs behind the girl. X downed his drink and got up.

* * *

Rakka leaned unsteadily against the railing of the rafter. She was still spooked by how much that man looked like Riddick. They could brothers or clones. She swallowed, feeling lost and on the edge of panic. Where was Riddick? Where was she? What should she do? 

She had wanted Riddick out of her life, but now…..She didn't need him. She was better off without him. He _sold _her to pimps without looking back.

It still didn't answer her question of what she should do now. She had no money and knew no one in this city. How did she get to New York and how did New York change? She saw vids of New York and it looked nothing like this. Where was the hover lanes, the hologram of the Statue of Liberty that was said to standing over the entire city. This place was so much darker than the one she saw in vids.

Something sharp pricked her side and a hand gripped her arm.

"You scream and this goes in." The prick began to hurt.

The hand cupped her breast through the blouse and started to move away. The knife at her side dug in till it drew a drop of blood from its point. She had no choice, but to remain still and be groped.

_Riddickriddickwherewashewhyisn'theheretohelpme?Ohgodmakehimstopmakehimstop._

The hand dropped from her chest to her pants. He undid the button and was unzipping her. Rakka felt hot tears well up in her eyes.

"Alright, slut, you're gonna lean forward for me. You scream, kick me, or try anything stupid, I'm gonna stick you with this." The knife tapped her side. "Instead of my dick."

"I don't think she's into knives."

_Riddick_?

She was hauled back by the hair and the knife was pressed to her throat. The man from the bar who had Riddick's body, but was not Riddick was there watching the man who held her carefully.

"Oh fuck, I know you." The man with the knife said. "You're that Xander Cage. That athlete in those videos…"

"Yeah, how 'bout ya let the lady go." The man said. "Go home, jack off over a Veronica Secret's magazine and not go to jail."

She heard the man swallow near her ear. He was afraid, but the knife remained at her throat.

Xander Cage stepped closer. "Look pal, think about this. You cut that girl's throat, then what? She winds up dead, you still don't a fuck and you're gonna be up on murder charges, and me, I'm gonna have to spend my weekend on a stand in court testifying against your ass. And if you don't end up on death row, then ya gonna spend the rest of your life getting rapped in the showers. Knowing how it feels to get from behind when ya don't want it."

Xander took another step and the man pulled her hair back and bared her throat to his knife.

"But it don't need ta be that way. You let her go, she gets to live, go home with me, spend the night in a mansion, you get to go home a free man, jerk off in the toilet and not have ta worry about being rapped yourself, me, I get to take her home with me and not have to worry about wasting away answer questions in a courtroom. Everybody wins."

Xander took another step and he was in front of them, hand out palm up. "Whattaya say? Wanna go home or to jail tonight?"

The man stared at the open hand. He took the knife from Rakka's throat and placed it, handle first, in Xander's. Xander took the knife and folded the back into the handle and slid it into his pocket. "Get the hell out of here and if I hear of you around here messin' with girls, then you're gonna have problems."

"Fuck it." The man snapped. He shoved Rakka away and stalked away.

She stood stunned and wiped the tears from her eyes. Her side bled a little and she touched it as if it would make the knife prick go away.

"Ya might wanna pull your pants up." Xander cage said motioning at her pants which hung off her hips revealing her white panties.

She yelped and yanked up her pants. Her mind flashed back to the boy she killed. The boy who was years younger than her, who had shoved her onto the ground and tried to rape her, and she shoved a pipe into his gut.

Xander said something and touched her arm. _'go home with me' _

"Don't touch me!" She yelled and rushed past him.

She cascaded down the stairs to the balcony and as she made her way to the stairs leading down, she heard him following her and calling.

"Hey! Hey!"

"Leave me alone!" She yelled over her shoulder. She rushed down the stairs and shoved her way through the crowd. She didn't look back to see if he was following her. She broke through the tide of writhing bodies and manage to get through the door.

"Find 'em?" The black man asked.

"No." She snapped. She nearly tripped off the stairs and stumbled till she managed to get in the middle of the road.

To her horror, the man was still following her. A screech and she was flying. People screamed and she was lying on the snow, her hip was burning and her arm cut. Her blood stained the snow.

People started shouting and crowding around her. Someone knelt beside her and had a cell phone out and calling emergency. She looked up with bleary vision and could make out a blurry version of Xander calling 911. She passed out before she could tell him to get away from her.

* * *

The doctor had told him that it was nothing major. The girl's hip was just severely bruised and her arm needed a few stitches. She lost little blood, enough for her to feel weak, but not enough to need a transfusion. She had a concussion, but he saw no lasting damages. She could go home tonight after she wakes up. 

Wherever she was?

X didn't even get a chance to get her name. To think that less than an hour ago he was at the bar drinking, now he was sitting in a hospital room with a girl he barely knew who brushed him off.

He could wait until she woke up, or he could call up Gibbons, that scarred face bastard, and see if her name could be found by just her description. Naw, he'd rather wait till she woke up.

A few minutes later, she groaned. She opened her blue-violet eyes and saw him. "Riddick? What happened?"

"Sorry, I ain't Riddick." X replied standing.

She strained her eyes to see him clearly and recognize him. "You? You were in the bar! What happened?"

"You were hit by a car." X said coming to stand at her bedside. "Knocked your ass off the road and into a building."

"Car?"

"Ya know, the things with wheels."

"How bad am I hurt?"

"Got stitches and your hip gonna be sore and black for a while. But doc sez you can go home tonight if you feel up to it."

Rakka swallowed and shifted. She winced from the burning sensation in her hip and she felt nauseous.

"You do got a place to go to?"

Rakka refused to look at him. Riddick's image with another mind boggled hers. She kept expecting him to shoot a smart ass comment at her or stalk off.

"You don't got a place to go to, do ya?"

What could she say? Lie? If she said, yes I do have a place, then he would ask for a com signal to call her friends or family. How could she reply? She had no one. She hadn't had contact with her friends in months and they were on a different planet, her parents were dead, and she had no one.

"I guess yer comin' home with me."

"What? Why?"

"You ain't got a place, I got a place big enough for twenty people. You figure it out."

"I…no, I don't want to."

"Look, if ya wanna stay here tonight, fine. But this ain't exactly a charity organization they got here. They're gonna put your ass out on the street in the morning and trust me, lady, ya don't wanna be a pretty girl alone on these streets. You should know that from what almost happened in the club."

Rakka had spent most of her life living in the City and she knew exactly what Xander meant.

"I ain't gonna mess with ya." Xander assured her. "Ya don't want me touchin' ya, tell me to fuck off and I'll listen. I ain't gotta force women to get my fucks."

She bit her lower lip. What would Riddick do? He wouldn't be here, that's for sure. She couldn't imagine him waiting by her side in a hospital.

She stared at Xander. He had an open face, not like Riddick's. She was a woman that had been born and raised in a city where almost everyday you heard of women being used and raped. It was deeply ingrained into her head and instinct to be weary of any man being overly kind.

"Alright, fine." Rakka replied. "I'll stay with you, but I'm sleeping in my own room. And don't think I'm gonna to owe you anything. If you want to be repaid, I'll pay you back with money, not with my body. You try anything with me, any thing at all, then….Riddick is gonna make you wish your mother never met your father."

That last part was a bluff, an empty, but hopefully effective one.

"Who's Riddick?" Xander asked. "You've called me that twice."

"He's a big as you are, but he can kick your ass.'

"I'd take the fucker on. Why the hell ain't he here with you? Where is he?"

It backfired on her. Damn. Just go with it. She crossed her arms and said, "That's for me to know and for you to find out if you try something."

She noted her arm and saw the black stitches. It wasn't the adhesive staples that were easily dissolved after the wound knitted itself together, it was actual thread. The only hospitals that still use cheap thread were lesser worlds and Slams. If this Xander had enough money to own such a big house, then why the hell did he take her to a cheap hospital that only had thread stitches?

"What's your name?"

She looked up. "My name?"

"You do got one, don'tcha?"

"Rakka Laotaner."

"You foreign?"

"Yeah, I guess so."


	2. Going

The mansion looked as if it was a cross between of an old British castle and male teenager's paradise. The interior look old British, but the furniture and décor was certainly Xander Cage's style. Posters of actresses and musicians she didn't recognized line the walls. There were arcade machines in almost every room and in the dining hall was a skateboard ramp with various designs on the huge curve.

Rakka was afraid the room that was set aside for her would look like something out of a music video or worse, a porn scene. To her surprise it resembled an expensive hotel's bedroom.

The four poster with canopy had burgundy covers which matched the hue of the carpet. There was an oak desk beside the bed with paper and ink pens ready in small compartments. The closet was big enough for her to walk around inside and even had a rotating rail for selecting clothes.

The bathroom was beautiful. It was all white with a marble double sink and porcelain toilet. She especially liked the tub which doubled as a Jacuzzi with a simple switch. Unfortunately there was no shower, which she preferred when she was in a hurry or wanted to wake up.

She arrived at the mansion in the cab with X….as 'Xander' wished for her to call him. The morning was cool and she was grudgingly glad that Xander loan her his jacket on the ride over.

She was taken into the grand hall, which resembled a dance floor due to the different color lights hanging from the ceiling and a huge stereo system which any DJ would be thrilled to use.

She was glad that Xander left her alone in her bedroom. She lay on the bed, glad that the pain medication the doctors sent with her was in her system. The crutch was leaning against the bedstead. It did hurt to walk around, but that should go away with time.

She stared at the ceiling and thought. Where was Riddick? What happened? Where was she? She didn't trust Xander, no matter how boyish he acted; she was going to watch him carefully. No man offers a complete female stranger a place to stay out of the goodness of their heart. They were always looking for a way to get into your pants one way or another.

Thing she was worried about was…could she keep herself out of his…..?

Jeez, what was wrong with her? Riddick must have royally fucked up her mind during the time she was with him. Xander was the exact copy of Riddick. They could have been twin brothers….did Riddick have a brother? She'd have to ask Xander the next time she saw him.

Thing was, what was she going to do now? Sure, she'll spend a few days here and heal up, but Xander will be asking questions. About who she was and where she came from. God, what was she suppose to say? 'Hi, I'm from the planet Haven, oh and I have a 50 million bounty on my head for murder'?

She rolled onto her side and ignored the quirks of pain in her leg as she curled into a fetal position. She was scared, she wanted to run away from it all, but there was nowhere to run to and she didn't think she could outrun the shit she was in.

* * *

Xander snagged himself a beer from the mini fridge in his game room. The room consisted a large and comfortable looking couch which stood in front of a massive television set mounted to the wall. A line of video game consoles lined the floor against the wall each with their own library of games.

Xander wasn't here to play games. This was where he came to think. He liked the couch, it made him feel as if he was floating in nothing, letting all his senses allow him to think.

Shortly after he arrived with Rakka in tow, he had received a transmission from Gibbons. He had a job for him. Good news it would take him to Hawaii; bad news is that he would be gone for weeks. He didn't want to leave Rakka alone so soon after finding her.

* * *

She woke up to hear a consistent knocking on the door. She sat up and hissed with pain as her leg and arm ached. Damn, she forgot to set the alarm to wake her up in time to take more medicine.

"Yes?" She almost growled at the door.

"You naked in there?"

She wanted to scream obscenities, but instead hissed, "No!"

"Damn. I'm comin' in." To her surprise, the door opened and Xander walked in wearing jeans, a black thick jacket.

"I locked that door last night!" She said staring at him.

"I got the skeleton key for the house." Xander held up a key in a gloved hand. "C'mon, we're going somewhere warm for the holidays."

"What?" Rakka stared at him, his words taking their time in clicking into place inside her mind. "What do you mean?"

"We're going to Hawaii." Xander replied. "The plane leaves in an hour. Cab's waitin' on us."

"Wait….why do we have to go to….to….Uh-I-E?" She shifted to move her legs painfully over the edge of the bed.

"I already told you, it's warmer there. And it's Ha-why-EE." Xander shifted his feet impatiently. "You need help gettin' ready?"

"No, I can do it myself!" Rakka snapped. "What I want to know is why do I have to go too?"

"My treat." Xander replied. "Look, I'm gonna let ya get ready. I'll be waitin' downstairs. Holler if ya need anything." He shut the door behind him as he exited the room. Rakka stared at the door for a solid minute before she finally stood. Her leg protested, but she quieted it by taking her pain killers dry.

What the hell should she do now? She didn't want to go to this Hawaii with him or anywhere for that matter. What gave him to the right to barge in here and announce they were going off somewhere without saying anything early? Did he just up and decide to go on a trip and take along his new 'guest'?

She stood for several minutes wondering what to do. The pain ease from her leg and she decided that no, she wasn't going to go. She would tell him that she was willing to stay in his mansion, but not go on any spontaneous trips.

She took her crutch and limp her way to the door. She opened it and traveled down the hall which led to the top of the twin stairs that curled in grand hall/dance floor. She saw him standing near the door where several suitcases and a carry-on near his feet. He was anxiously checking his watch.

"I'm not going." She called down from the balcony.

Xander looked up and grinned which angered her. "Yes, you are."

"No, I don't want to go." Rakka replied evenly. "You didn't run this by me; in fact you didn't even ASK if I wanted to go. You can't just decide what I'm going to do for me, dammit!"

Xander's grin remained on his face as he turned and opened the front door a crack. "Hey, c'mon in and get the bags for me. I take 'em myself, but I gotta help my girlfriend down the stairs. She was in an accident, ya know."

Rakka clutched her crutch so tightly her knuckles whitened. "I am NOT your girlfriend!"

To her horror, Xander was making his way up the stairs to her. She turned to rush back to her room and lock the door, but she was still new to having to rely on a crutch to walk. She stumbled and had to grip the balcony railing to keep from falling. She felt strong arms slip around her and up she went.

For terrifying seconds, it seemed like she was floating at the ceiling and the terror of being accidentally dropped over the railing made her reflexively cling to Xander. She felt relief pool in her chest as she was bodily settled against his broad chest. She glared death at him as he carried her downstairs.

"Where's put the pain killers?" He asked her as he walked across the dance floor with her.

"I. Don't. Want. To. Go." She snarled into his face.

"Okay, don't want your pain killers, fine with me." Xander replied, not loosing his good humored attitude.

"By the bed." She grunted as she was carried out of the door and into the icy night.

"Hey, open the back door, okay?" Xander called over her and a man got out of the cab and moved around.

Xander slid her body into the backseat after the man opened the door. He removed his jacket and to her surprised placed it around her. It was large and it enveloped her body. It was warm; warm from his body heat and it….oh God….it even had his smell. That deep musky scent that scene flashes of memories through her mind's eye.

Riddick touching her body, smelling her, licking her skin, even biting her skin, and the feeling of him penetrating her made liquid fire ooze down her belly to her loins. She almost banged her head on the head of the seat to snap the images from her mind, but it didn't take away the fact that she was getting wet. Great, she'd have to sit in a cab with a man she DID NOT want to have sex with, but looked like a man she had lost her virginity to with her panties wet.

Xander came back and tossed her medication and crutch in the back seat with her. The medication was stuffed into a little white bag which she slipped into the jacket's deep pocket. She arranged the crutch to be between her and the door so she could get out easier. She was tempted to get out of the car and persist in not going.

Before she could get up her nerve to do so, Xander opened the other door and slide inside beside her. He was wearing a dark blue jacket which he must have grabbed it when he went inside to get her medicine.

"Comfy?" He asked while he buckled his seatbelt.

"No." She snapped. "I said I didn't want to go."

"I know." He replied. "You'll like it."

"No, I won't!" She insisted. "You are FORCING me to come with you. This is kidnapping."

"What? I'm taking you on a holiday vacation. An all paid vacation on me, shit, a lot of people would be thrilled to go with a Christmas vacation to Hawaii with a celebrity." The cab started a whispered away from the mansion front steps.

"What celebrity?"

It was his turn to stare at her shocked. "You ain't heard of me, Xander Cage?"

"If I did, I would have run the other way when I saw you."

"Shit, never heard of my videos? Online?"

"No." She replied.

"Jesus." He hissed under his breath. "I don't fuckin' believe it."

"What are you? An actor?" She questioned, her curiosity tweaked.

"Hell, no!" He snapped. "I'm an athlete."

"What sport?"

"It ain't exactly a legal sport." Xander admitted. "It's something you can only get online or SOME video rental places."

She stared at him and inched away from him. "What kind of videos, Xander Cage…"


	3. Arriving

They rode in silence for part of the way. Rakka refused to look at Xander, despite any attempts he made to start conversation.

"The surfin' ain't bad in Hawaii."

"Oh."

"The water's warm. Good for swimming."

"Oh."  
"The food ain't bad either."

"Oh."

"And the orgies are fuckin' hot."

"What?" She twisted her head around to see him grinning that he finally got a reaction. She turned back to the window angry at him all over again.

"Look, ya don't need to be piss about this."

"Too late." She replied without looking at him.

Five minutes later, the taxi pulled up along the drop off area of the airport. Xander got out and moved around to open her door, but she was already getting out and trying to stand on her crutch.

"Careful, there's ice on the concrete." Xander held out a hand to steady her. "You wanna go back to the hospital?"

"I do if that'll keep me from going." She snapped leaning against the cab for balance.

Xander sighed and walked to the trunk. "Don't cry to me when you fall on your ass."

He got the suitcases and bags from the trunk while she managed to stand upright leaning on the crutch. "You need help?"

"No." She replied.

Xander shrugged and shouldered one of the bags. "Watched the stuff while I get a cart."

He was gone for a few minutes, but that was enough time for Rakka to gain confidence to take a few tentative steps on the crutch. She looked around at all the chaos of the airport. People were screaming, arguing, talking, laughing, and scolding children. Many were rushing, checking their watches, anxiously shifting their feet, and groaning as precious moments passed by.

Xander soon came back willing a cart and started loading the baggage onto it. "I think our flight's gonna get delayed."

"Well, let's go back and wait at the house." Rakka replied in a sickenly sweet tone being mockingly helpful. A so fake smile stretched her lips.

"No, let's not. Let's eat at the café and exchange pleasantries." Xander returned with the exact same expression.

"I'll fucking walk back." Rakka snapped.

"Go ahead, use your crutch and limp outta here. Jes watch out for speeding cars on the highway, any muggers and rapist on the streets and subway and if you make it back to the mansion alive, I locked all the doors and had the phone lines disconnected, but be my guest."  
"Xander, I don't want to go."

"You'll change your mind."

"No, I won't." She hated sounding like a spoiled and difficult child, but Xander was putting her in this position by force.

"Can you follow me, okay?" Xander asked directing the cart toward the wide opened sliding doors.

"I don't want to, but I guess I don't have any choice now do I?"

"No, ya don't." Xander pushed the cart forward.

Rakka managed to follow him, trying not to wince at each time her leg strained with pain. God, she never seen so many people in one enclosed area, not even in the City. And there had to be over a hundred kids crying, running around, begging, whining, fighting, and laughing within the area alone. People were shoving through lines and crowds to get to destinations and others were waiting in lines and staring at their watches as if their life depended on it.

"Damn, now I remember why I hate travelin' durin' the holidays." Xander murmured over the din as he led her to a long line to get to a tall counter where several women were checking out tickets and tapping away at computers. There was one woman being screamed by a large red face man angry about his flight being canceled due to bad weather in some place call Georgia.

They stood in line for a long while. Rakka's leg started to hurt while standing and she shifted most of her weight to her good leg, but not without Xander's notice.

"If ya wanna, ya can sit down over there." Xander pointed to a set of benches.

Rakka was in too much pain to give Xander a further hard time, so she nodded and limp over to the benches out of the line. She settled heavily onto the bench with her leg throbbing. She watched Xander move along the line until finally it was his turn at the counter.

Rakka turned her attention off Xander and continued to look around. She couldn't help, but notice a lot of couples walking around holding hands, walking close to each other, whispering to each other, and even kissing. God, people are going to think she and Xander was a couple.

She looked around and noticed something. A newspaper, an old 21st century newspaper encased in metal and glass standing in front of a small coffee shop. She got up and managed to move closer to get a better look at it. Sure enough it was one of those old newspaper dispensers where you put in coins for it to open and you can take one newspaper.

Was it a small monument or something. As she got closer she was able to see that there was a newspaper that was made of actual paper. There was a date printed at the top, but what drew her attention was the year: 2005. The headline was about the hectic traveling during Christmas time, but she wasn't paying it too much attention.

"Hey."

She yelped and nearly lost her balance and fell. Her arm was roughly caught and she was steadied on her feet. A very tall man was standing next to her. He wore a thick sweater and jeans with thick sole shoes. "Didn't mean to scare ya, but I was wonderin' when ya was gonna stop gawking at the paper and lemme get one."

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry." She bit her bottom lip and said, "Do you think the date is correct?"  
"What? Ya think it's a typo?" The man looked and said, "Yeah. Christmas is like four days away, honey."

"Okay, thank you, sorry." She hurried away and sat back down on the bench, her heart pounding. It answered so many questions that she had been having. Why she didn't recognize any of the stars on Xander's walls, why everything looked so old fashion and unfamiliar to her, and why she had such a strong sense of. . . being out of place.

Why and how did she get to this time? She remembered the light before she was separated from Riddick, did that have something to do with her being here?

"Somethin' happened?" She looked up to see Xander standing over her. He had a concerned look on his face and he was staring hard at her. "Did that guy try somethin'?"

"No, he did not." Rakka was irritated with him for interrupting her thoughts.

"Hey, I was jes tryin' to look out for ya." Xander said defensively. "You'll be surprised at how sicko get off in public."

"I need to use the restroom." She said feeling the urge to vomit.

"They're right over there." Xander pointed. "You need some help?"

"No, I can do it." She said as she stood. Compared to her shock, the pain in her leg wasn't that bad. She hobbled away from him.

"Take your time. Our flight was delayed after all, so we'll be here for a few hours."

She ignored him and managed to get into the bathroom. There was a small crowd of women inside, but luckily most of them were interested in their looks and stood at the mirror preening themselves instead of using the stalls. Rakka quickly got into the nearest empty stall and vomited into the toilet. There wasn't much, she hadn't eaten since last night, but it made her throat sore and the back of her mouth burn. She wiped her mouth with a piece of toilet paper and flushed.

She hobbled to the mirror and a few women were thoughtful enough to step to the side to give her plenty of room. Her face was very pale, making her blue-violet eyes almost glow under the fluorescent light overhead. A few women noticed and stared for a minute, before politely looking away, but they away gave her a quick glance when they thought she wasn't looking.

She watched her face in the cool, but metallic tasting water and wiped it clean with paper towels. Her leg was hurting again and she felt so overwhelmed and swamped that she had to sit down. She went back to the stall she vomited in and sat down on the toilet. She locked the stall door and buried her face into her hands. She felt like crying, screaming, begging some invisible entity to take her home. It wasn't fair to do this to her. She was in a place she had no knowledge of, nothing. And she thought it was bad with a 50 million bounty on her head.

This century was so dangerous. What with sexual transmitted diseases running rampant, diseases that don't even have cures, inadequate space travel, and wasn't there a huge terrorist threat in this century? She couldn't remember, it was a long time since she studied ancient history.

What was going to happen to her when people find out? Okay, she had been in a hospital and none of the doctors found out anything weird about her. But my God, she had no background information here. No record of her family, medical background, no education, God, her high school diploma doesn't mean shit here. She's now a homeless and nameless person that was going to end up living on the streets or become a hooker, those were the only two options she could see before her.

"Hey, is there a Rakka in here?" She heard a female voice called.

"Ye. . .yes?" She leaned forward and unlocked the stall and swung it opened. She moved to stand and she saw a woman with tanned skin and dark brown hair standing at the sinks. "That's me."

"There's this sexy guy out there wanting to know when you would be done in here." The woman said leaning against the counter. "Says he's been waiting on you for twenty minutes."

She been sitting in the stall for that long? She hobbled out of the stall on her crutch and said, "My leg was hurting me."  
"If I was you, then I would have that guy massage it and make it better." The girl replied.

Rakka wanted to retort with something rude such as 'well, you're not me' but she decided against it. No sense in pissing someone off that has yet to do her any harm.

She moved out of the bathroom to see Xander slouched on the bench waiting. He was checking his watch and boringly tapping his fingers on his knee. He looked up as she approached him, "Thought you got flushed down the toilet."

"I'm fine." She replied. "Sorry."

Xander's eyebrows arched in slight surprised and said, "Wanna go over there and eat?" He was pointed at a bright and colorful restaurant titled MCDONALD'S. "I'd take ya somewhere fancy, but I don't think they got places like that in an airport."

"It's fine." She replied softly.

Xander gave her a look, but then he wordlessly stood and swung his bag over his shoulder. "I already gave our luggage for checking and loading."

"Okay." Rakka replied, her thought were unconcerned about the luggage.

He led her into the restaurant and selected a booth against the wall. "You can go ahead and sit. What do you want?"  
"Want?" She asked not paying any attention to her surroundings.

"To eat? We're in a restaurant. They're still serving breakfast."

Oh God in Heaven, she didn't know what food McDonald served. Okay, think, chicken, what restaurant didn't have some sort of chicken on the menu. "Anything with chicken."

"Okay, Chicken McNuggets? Crispy Chicken? Or a Chicken McGrill?"

"The Grill one."

"How do you want it? Everything, more ketchup or. . ."

"Plain, meat and bread plain." She replied hastily. Anything to get him to go away and let her think.

"What do you want to drink?"

"Milk. I want milk."

"Okay." Xander set the bag beside her and left to stand in long line that at the end was almost outside of the restaurant.

Rakka hugged herself and couldn't fight the dull whimper that emitted from her throat. He was going to ask questions soon. About her parents, her home, if she went to school, and so on. Sure, she could lie, but how. She knew nothing about this area or era, anything she may say he could easily check out and disprove. What was she going to do about him?

She wanted to leave him, but she was afraid to be away from him. She had no money, or anywhere to go to call home. She couldn't get a job, she had no background information to give on the application. She was so scared that she was startled when Xander set food in front of her.

"You okay? You look pale." He said as he took his seat across from her.

"I'm fine." She said fiddling with her wrapped sandwich.

"You sure. You don't look alright." He unwrapped his sandwich. It was large and looked like it was layered with lettuce, tomato, and other stuff she didn't recognize.

"I'm okay." She managed to unwrap her own sandwich and it was how she had asked for it. She bit into it and felt like clay inside her mouth. She didn't know whether it was how it tasted or her nerves were keeping her from enjoying food.

"I think I know what's wrong with you." Xander said. Rakka froze her sandwich midway back to the table. She stared at him, her breath haled and waited for the bomb to hit her. "You're afraid of flying."

It took her a moment to realize that he didn't know her secret after all. "You're right, I am afraid to fly." Which was true, she wasn't very experience in any flying machine.

"No wonder you were such a bitch about going. Why didn't you say so?"

"I don't know." She said taking a nipple off her sandwich.

"It's okay. Air travel is safer than anyone knows. I should know, I travel a lot."  
"Oh."

"It'll be worth it when we get to Hawaii."

"Oh."

"And you don't care."

"I do."  
Xander studied this silent woman who was picking at her meal. Something had happened without him noticing. This was no longer the spitfire that had practically fought him every inch of the way here. "You know something, I forgot about swimmin' suit for you. Tell ya what, when we get to Hawaii, we'll empty my bankin' account on clothes for ya."

"You don't have to." She replied. "I can't pay you back." Her voice began to tremble slightly.

"Hey, hey, look, I was jes kiddin' about blowin' my account. Look, I ain't tryin' to brag, but it would take us several weeks to blow all my money."

"Is that how long we're going to be in Hawaii?"

"Well, we're gonna spend Christmas there. And if we want to, we can stay longer."

"Okay."

"I got us a house on the beachfront. You'll like it, of course, it'll have two bedrooms."

"That's nice."

"And it's got private property, so ya won't have to deal with screamin' kids and people hogging the tanning spots."

"That'll be good."

"You're kinda pale, no offense, but you might wanna use some pretty strong sun block or yer gonna be red as a lobster."

"Okay."

Xander traced his upper lip with his tongue. Okay, something definitely happened. Before she left the line to the check in counter, she was as bitchy and angry as. . .well a bitch and he liked that. Now she was quiet and still as if all the spunkiness was scooped out of her. "What's wrong, Rakka?"

"Nothing, I'm afraid to fly." She replied quickly, too quickly.

"Okay, if you say so." Xander made an attempt to get her fired up again. "I'm gonna go buy some condoms. Do you like ribbed or well lubricated?"

"I don't know. I never used them." Oh, God, she needed to get her mind back onto the conversation.

"Waitaminute, you never used a condom? You never had sex right?"

Jesus, that sent thoughts of Riddick flooding into her brain and looking at Xander didn't help at all. "That's not exactly true."

"You had unsafe sex? You are on the pill right?"

"I took one." She replied.

"Honey, that ain't enough. Just takin' one pill don't keep you from gettin' pregnant. I think ya gotta take 'em everyday. I've been around enough women to know that."

"The kind I took you just take it before sex and it works fine." She replied again without thinking.

"Honey, I never heard of that kind of Pill."  
Dammit. Think, think of something. The Pill she was taking about probably wasn't even created during this time. "He told me that it would work."

"Aw, fuck it." Xander cussed under his breath. "Sister, you just got fooled. Dammit, how long ago was this?"

"Before I met you." It hurt to let him believe that she was a stupid girl that was gullible to believe someone about birth control, but it was a way out of a sticky situation. "Maybe a day or two."

"Shit." Xander whispered. "Yer gonna see a doctor when the plane lands. That fucker may have knocked you up or gave you something nasty. He a boyfriend?"

"No, he. . . he. . . he was just good looking." She fed him a small lie to keep him from asking further questions. "I don't know his name."

"Sweet heart, ya might as well have tried shooting yourself in the head. Sleeping with a complete stranger without using the Pill or a condom. . .damn, that's just stupid." Xander hated sounding like a parent, but dammit this was shit he knew since he was in high school. "He might have given you AIDs."

Rakka wasn't sure she could remember what kind of sickness AIDs was at this time, but she decided to keep up this act of being an irresponsible girl to keep him away from the truth. "I know."  
How dare he act concerned. He's just upset that she might be too disease ridden for any fun he intended to have with her. She bet that if it did turn out that she was sick with something, that he would turn her out on the street without looking back.

Xander checked his watch. "If we had time, I'd take ya to a clinic right now before we get on the plane."

"To possibly save money on a ticket?" Rakka whispered. Then she felt the weight on her face. She looked up to see Xander giving her a hard look.

"I ain't jokin' about this. If you're sick or pregnant than you got a lot of responsibilities. If you are sick, then you better find out cuz chances are, as good lookin' as you are, you're gonna get laid again and I would rather it was not one of my friends or some poor fuck catching shit from you."

Xander roughly wrapped his half eaten sandwiched and said, "Get up, we're goin'."

"I thought our flight was delayed?" She said looking up at him with wide eyes. She never saw Xander angry before. He wasn't as scary as Riddick, but it still caught her attention and made her tense.

"We're goin' to a clinic right to check you out right now. And get some birth control." Xander shouldered his bag. "We miss our flight, we'll catch another. I got the money, if we have too we'll use a private jet."

* * *

In less than an hour, they rode a taxi to a nearby health clinic. The waiting room was lined with chairs and they were almost filled. They had to hunt to find two empty chairs side by side. 

Rakka tried not to stare at what looked like a pregnant 14 year old sitting beside her mother. There were several expectant mothers that looked too young to be mothers. She hoped she wasn't pregnant, though she was sure that she was fine. It was Xander's turn not to talk to her or look at her.

They must have been waiting for fifteen minutes before a nurse stepped out and called Xander's name. He stood and helped her to stand. The nurse jotted down the name of Xander's insurance company that he gave her. Then she led them into a room where there was a leather cot.

"So what's going on?" The nurse asked shutting and locking the door behind her.

"She had unprotected sex." Xander hooked a thumb at her before she could speak. "Need her checked out for STDs and pregnancy. Also birth control."

"She have sex with you?" The nurse asked jotting down information.

"No, not with me. Some guy she didn't know."

"Sexual intercourse?" The nurse asked Rakka.

"Yes and. . .oral." Rakka said. "For me and him."

"No anal penetration?"

"No, none."

God, these were such personal questions. She wanted to leave. She was fine, she didn't needed to be treated as if she committed a mortal sin. . . actually premarital sex was considered a mortal sin, wasn't it?

"What about you?" The nurse asked Xander. "You have any sort of sexual contact with this lady?"

"None."

"Are you sure? If she contracted something, then it'd be a good idea to have you checked out too. Just to be safe." The nurse studied him and said, "It wouldn't hurt, just to be on the safe side next time you have sex."

"Sure, fine. Test me too."

The nurse jotted down more information and said, "A nurse will be back to take blood."

* * *

Blood was drawn from both of them and they were both clean of STDs. Rakka wasn't pregnant and after a thorough examination and a pelvic, she was prescribed with a three month supply of Pills and instructions on taking one everyday at the same time. 

They went back to the airport where their flight was still available. They had only a thirty minute wait until their plane was ready to board. Xander silently helped her into the loading ramp and to their seats. The plane wasn't very crowded, they pretty much had most of first class to themselves.

"I had to throw away our food." Xander said. "Wouldn't let us bring 'em on the plane with us."

"Oh."

"Look, sorry about the whole. . .clinic thing. Maybe I overreacted. I didn't mean to humiliate you like that."

"It's okay."

"No, it ain't." Xander sighed. "I did overreact, but, dammit, having unsafe sex is serious as a heart attack, maybe more so. I knew several guys that got herpes from the same girl." He looked over at her and she was staring at her hands fiddling with the corner of her jacket, not paying attention. He sighed and leaned back into his seat.

She played with the damn buttons of the jacket while the flight attendant demonstrated safety procedures and the captain greeted himself. She yelped when the plane started rolling.

Her hands gripped the armrest in panic, but it was too late to realize that Xander had his hand on the arm of his chair. She snatched her hand back, embarrassed.

"You can hold my hand if you want." Xander offered.

She shook her head and moved her hand to grip the edge of the seat. Her ears felt very funny as the plane lifted off the pavement. She kept her window closed and refused to look out of it to see them rising above the clouds. She felt very scared.

"Cold?"

"What?"

"You're trembling." Xander touched her shoulder.

"Yes, I'm cold." She mechanically replied and shrugged off his hand.

"Jes tryin' to help." Xander said signaling a flight attendant.

* * *

Rakka slept for several hours wrapped up in a blanket and her head on a pillow. She curled up in her chair, her head leaning against her closed window and eyes closed. Her face held that relaxed, peaceful, and placid look of sleep. 

Xander leaned on his side on in his seat watching her sleep. Where did she come from? She either had no family or didn't get along with them since she didn't try using family as an excuse not to go.

He called his mother earlier and told her that he wouldn't be able to be home for Christmas. His mother pleaded and practically ordered him to drop everything and fly to California. He told her that he had a business trip that he HAD to go on. He never told her about becoming an agent, and he just COULD NOT tell her that he was skipping out of family Christmas to go on a Hawaii vacation with a woman.

He's always done crazy things, things he couldn't explain why he did it in the end. He was taking a girl, a girl he just met, on a Hawaiian vacation A.K.A mission. Why? He wasn't sure. He liked her, but hell, he liked any good looking woman that crossed his line of vision. But for some reason, he felt protective of this one. It was the reason why he was upset when he found out that she had unprotected sex recently and took her to a clinic to get her checked out.

He found her, he took her in, and he made sure she was healthy. He knew it was strange to think of her like finding a lost kitten and adopting it, but he felt as if he had adopted her and that she was his in a way.

God, he hoped his feelings didn't get him killed on this mission.

* * *

The plane landed on the Big Island, Hawaii. When they exited the airport, there were two women with dark skin and very black hair wearing skirts of grass and necklaces of flower. They were putting such necklaces around the tourists' necks and she and Xander each got one too. 

The girl that gave Xander his went as far as to hug him and he kissed her cheek. She groggily accepted hers and took off the jacket. It was very warm and it felt strange to leave a snowy climate as New York into a weather that felt like Spring.

The beach house that Xander either bought or rented, she couldn't remember which, was large. It held a small well stocked kitchen with a stove, fridge, and other appliances. There was a mid size living room with a large tv and two couches lining the walls. There was a large screen window that gave a large view of the beach.

Rakka sat on the couch before the window and stared. She had seen pictures and read descriptions of beaches. However, there was no way to prepare her for the smell, the sound, and the real life view of an ocean. It was as far as she could see and the roaring of the crashing waves intimidated her.

Xander was in his bedroom throwing his suitcases into the closet with an empty promise of putting them away into the drawers later. He changed out of his sweater into a thin sleeveless white shirt for the warmer climate and he winced when he realized that Rakka had nothing to change into. She was stuck wearing those hot clothes until he could get her a change. First thing was to buy clothes.

He stepped into the living room to see Rakka sitting on the couch staring out the window at the ocean. Just like a little kid.

"Hey, let's go out."

She turned her head away and her eyes widened when she noticed the tattoos. She was never offended by tattoos, but his seemed to blaze for her attention each time she saw them. "Where?"

"Get you clothes, maybe dinner."

"Okay."

"I got a better shirt for ya, if ya don't wanna walk around hot."

"Okay."

"It's in the back."

Rakka left her crutch on the couch. She felt confident to walk with it. Her leg hurt, but not as much as it did back in New York. Yet she still somewhat put her weight against the wall as Xander led her into the bedroom

In any romance novel or movie, it would have happened suddenly and very quickly and would have surprised her greatly, but it didn't. It happened very slowly and gently. And it didn't surprise her at all, in fact, it was something she had been expecting it for a while.

When she stepped into his bedroom, Xander turned to her. His large hands lifted up and curled around her upper arms and guided her to step nearer to him. One hand rose up and touched the side of her face. His hand was warm and large and could have completely covered the side of her face.

His lips was warm and surprisingly soft. His lips tugged at her bottom lip and she shuddered. This was how she had been kissed before by boyfriends she had in high school, but. . .it was never as intense as this.

He stopped, but his face was still close to hers, his nose lightly touching hers. His breath had no scent, but it was warm and it blew onto her face and into her mouth and nose. His voice was gravel, just like Riddick's, but it was lower, softer, and kinder.

"I was scared as hell when I thought you might have AIDs or somethin' else."

She swallowed, but she didn't answer. She lowered her head to look at his broad chest. She felt his mouth press against her forehead, near her hairline. She felt and heard him inhale and exhale. Was he smelling her? Just like Riddick?

"Ever since we got to the New York airport, you kept looking like yer gonna start cryin' buckets at any time." He said against her skin and hair.

It was all she could do to keep from doing so right there. She swallowed it back and inhaled deeply through her nose.

"I ain't askin' you to tell me yer life story or anythin' like that. I know there's shit you want to keep buried, but if anythin' is botherin' you or if somethin' is hurtin' you, let me know and I'll take care of it."

She nodded automatically. Why? She wasn't sure. It just seemed like something she should right now or else he'll pursue the matter. He kissed her forehead. It was a long and moist kiss, and it felt wet when he lifted away from her.

"I'm gonna wait outside and let you change. The shirt on the bed." He left the room and shut the door behind him.

Rakka stood there stunned at what had just happened. God, something must be wrong with her for her to just let him kiss her like that. Now he's going to think that there was something between them. She rubbed her face and proceeded into changing into the much larger t-shirt.

The sun was setting as Xander steered the rental car toward the shopping area of the island. Many stores lined either side of the road and Xander selected one and parked in front.

Rakka was able to walk comfortably without her crutch, but not completely without pain. It surprised her as much as it surprised him. He had figured that that she would need the crutch for at least another day. She must be a fast healer.

It unnerved her at how surprised that Xander was when she said she felt that she didn't need the crutch anymore. Was she healing faster because she was from thousands of years from the future and due to evolution or the medicine of her time? Or could it be that she wasn't as badly hurt as the doctor had believed?

"Might want to stop by a doctor and see about getting your stitches removed." She looked at him and realized he was looking at the stitches at her arm. "They look ready to be removed."

She looked at her stitched arm and said, "How can you tell?"

"Oh, I can tell. Trust me, I've prolly had about a thousand stitches already cuz of my stunts." Xander laughed as they entered the store. "But it's weird, the doc said you'd need to have them till the end of the week, and I ain't never seen anyone get fix as quick as you."

Rivers of icey water seemed to wash over her spine and she was glad that Xander was looking away at that moment for that she was sure that her face was very pale.

"Take a look. Get whatever ya like."

She looked up at the interior of the huge store. It held everything from everyday clothes to evening gowns. After much urging from Xander, she looked around and selected several garments.

"Look, ya might as well the same thing in different colors. Money is no object." He said when she decided she had enough clothes to last a week.

"But you said we would stay a week?"

"But I also said that we might stay longer." Xander replied taking a bikini off the rack. "Might as well get you your own wardrobe while we're here, unless you wanna try somewhere else?"

"No, this is fine." She replied.

"Let's try on bikinis." Xander held the top of the bikini to her chest as if seeing what it would look like on her.

She turned away, her face flushing. A bikini? She never worn so much as a bathing suit, in fact she had never swam a day in her life. The most daring thing she wore was the a tank top cut off that revealed her stomach and shorts to a party she was sure her parents would never have approved of. Even then, she was uncomfortable wearing that little, she could never imagine walking around almost naked.

"I don't think so." She replied stepping away.

"Aw c'mon, I bet you have a nice ass."

"I. . .I can't swim."

"You can't swim?"

"No, I can't."

"You don't have to swim. You kin wade in the edge of the water or just stick to the shallow end of the pool till you think you can handle the deep end."

She still refused to look at him and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I don't feel comfortable."

"Tell ya what. We'll get ya three one pieces and a couple of bikinis and if you feel more comfortable or loosen up you can try the bikinis." Xander suggested still not letting go of the bikini. "I got the money to burn."  
That was another think that was making Rakka very uncomfortable. Xander seemed to be very willing to spend money on her and she was afraid that he was thinking that he was investing in having a 'very good time' with her. God, she could see it now. When she says no he was going to guilt her into complying by telling her all the clothes he bought her and the meals, and also room and board.

"What's wrong?" A firm touch on her shoulder made her look around at him. He had lowered the bikini and was looking at her face seriously.

"I can't pay you back for all of this." She said. "I don't have any money and I don't even have a job."

"Look, it's on me, ya don't gotta pay me back."

She shook her head, her eyes tearing up with guilt and futility of her situations. "No, it's not right. You're spending too much on me. What we have already is going to cost a least a hundred dollars. I don't know when I'll have that kind of money to my own name."

"Look, look, listen." He hung of the bikini and put his hands on both her shoulders. "If it's bothering you this much, then let's call all this an early Christmas present from me to you. Okay?"

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, you know. Jingle bells, Santa Claus, reindeer, Jesus's birth and stuff." Xander noticed the confused look on her face and said, "Are you Jewish?"

"Jewish?"

"You never celebrated Christmas or Hanukah?" Xander asked incredulously.

Rakka had to shake her head. She remembered her mother being religious, but they had never celebrated any of the holidays that Xander was talking about. But the way he was talking, they must be very important holidays during this era.

"Shit." Xander was actually amazed. "You atheist?"

"I believe in God!" She blurted. "We. . .just weren't very religious."

"During Christmas, incase you haven't heard, we exchange gifts on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. It's really a family holiday, but it's something you can spend with friends too."

"I have nothing to give you." Rakka replied. "At least, nothing that I feel comfortable giving."

"I ain't that way." Then Xander figured it out. "You think I'm tryin' to corner you into havin' sex with me?"

Rakka took this moment to study her hands as if they were the most interesting things.

"Rakka, look at me." His hands were on her shoulders again and this time she was firmly turned to face him. She lifted her face against her will and hoped she didn't looked like she was about to cry. "Lissen, I ain't pressuring you into doin' anythin' with me that you don't want. What happened earlier. . .I'm sorry, it just seemed like the right thin' to do at that time. The next time I try anythin' like that with you, jes tell me to fuck off. I ain't the kind of man that's gotta bribe a girl into sleeping with him. That's kinda hurts my pride, know what I mean?"

"I don't know what to say." Damn, he was a smooth and charming talker.

"Just say thank you for the clothes, X."

* * *

She did say thank you for the clothes, which ended up costing over 2,000 dollars. She was shocked at the high price and was about ready to put the clothes back on the rack. But Xander stopped her from doing so and handed a credit card to the clerk and paid for the clothes.

They loaded the car with the purchases and headed back to the house. Rakka sat in her seat just shocked at how much clothes costed in this era. Her mother would be astounded at her allowing a man to spend so much on her at one time.

By the time they got back to the house, it was dark. Xander parked the car in the garage and got out stretching. "Jesus, I'm beat."

She was quite tired herself. It had been a very long day. Being kidnapped, getting the shocking revelation of being in a different era, an uncomfortable plane ride, changing climates, getting a kiss from Xander, and shopping. She got out of the car and found herself yawning.

"Let's leave the stuff in the car for the night. You look tired enough to drop."

She felt a thick arm weighing down on her shoulders and curve around her neck. The words 'fuck off' died on her lips, the weight felt good and comforting to her rattled mind. She went into the house with him by his side and allowed him to lead her to the bedroom she had yet to visit him.

She began to feel panic creeping up. This was it, this was when he was going to try to smooth talk his way into her bedroom and between her legs. What if that wasn't all he would try to do? Would he push her inside and slam the door behind him? Try to make it like a game of rough sex and actually rape her? She lived in the City and heard all the stories, but she always thought that if she was careful, kept a steady head then none of this would ever happen to her. . . as it was now.

Xander stopped in front of the bedroom door and opened it. His arm moved from her shoulders. "Goodnight."

He turned and headed for his bedroom. Rakka watched him leave and heard the door open and shut not too far away. She entered her bedroom and kicked off her shoes and pants.

The bedroom was small with a twin bed against the wall beneath a small window. There was a dresser with a rotating mirror and a small closet near the door. She went ahead and locked the door before crawling into bed.

She had been afraid that she would have a hard sleeping, but as soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell straight to sleep and did not dream.

* * *

As soon as Xander got into his bedroom, instead of going to bed, he went to his closet and took out a laptop. The bedroom was a little bit bigger than Rakka's. The bed was queen size and instead of a dresser, he had a desk. He set the laptop on the desk, opened it, and turned it on.

He waited while the loading screen flashed across the screen and it finally came to an operating system used by only the organization that the ones of high authority within the United States government knew about. Xander used this time to set up a microphone for audio speech.

He opened up a transmission program and sent a signal which was immediately accepted. A window opened and live video of Gibbons' scarred face appeared giving him a hard look.

"You were suppose to report as soon as you arrived on the island, XXX." He said, his cold dark eyes on Xander.

"I know, but I hada see the sights." Xander replied lazily.

"More like try to get into the girl's pants." Gibbons snapped. "This is not a vacation, XXX, this is of utmost importance to our government."

"Alright, alright, so who's tryin' to blow up the Good ole US of A?" Xander asked reclining his chair getting comfortable.

"The target is a Ryo Marin. Age 21. Birthday February the 14th. Racial background is half Japanese on his mother's side and half Caucasian on his father's side. Currently single and no children, that we know of." An image of a man with pale skin and very dark and style hair appeared on the screen. He had a look on his face that indicated that he was use to getting things his own way, a sort of spoiled brat. "We have reasons to suspect that he is selling arms to the highest payers. Anyone from White Supremist to Middle Eastern terrorists."

"Gimme a break. This kid gotta be too young to be an arms dealer."

"He inherited the business after his father died last year from 'accidental' car wreck. Anyway, despite his age he's been very successful, he's been raking billions over the past year."

"A self made rich kid." Xander commented.

"We believe that he may be trying to get his hands on bio and chemical weapons."

"And lemme guess, ya want me to make sure the little rug rat doesn't?"

"He's spending Christmas vacation on his private island a few miles south of your location. He's having a rave on his estate, everybody is invited and I want you to use your wild ways of getting onto his good side and get information on his clients and where he may be developing these WMDs."

"No problem, I like parties."

"Also, we're sending you a partner. You'll meet him tomorrow. He goes by Agent name Hi-5."

"Hi-5?"

"A name he selected himself. One more thing before we sign off. Smart thing bringing along a girl. As long as she doesn't complicate the mission, going under the cover as a man taking a girlfriend on a Christmas vacation is pretty solid, but it falls through if the girl doesn't have any background information."

Xander leaned forward in his chair. "What do you mean?"

"We checked her out. She has no family, no social security number, no medical or educational records at all. We tried tracking her movements, but it's as if she wasn't in existence until she met you."

"She's harmless." Xander remarked. "She ain't a spy or some shit."

"Pretty convenient that she shows up right before you have a mission."

"It's a coincidence. She didn't even want to come to Hawaii, had to drag her to the airport and shit."

"You better watch her, I know we will on our side."

And with that, Gibbons signed off.


	4. Plans

Rakka awoke that morning and nearly had a panic attack. She wasn't in her room in the City, not in the abandoned campus, where was she? She looked around her breathing quick and deep. Then it slowly came to her about the events of yesterday.

She swung her legs out off the bed and stood, still feeling shaken. She pulled on a pair of pants she wore yesterday and exited the bedroom. She yelped as she almost stubbed her toe on one of the store bags filled with the clothes Xander had purchased for her. He must brought them in and set them outside her door for her. She carried each one back into her bedroom and set them on the bed. She'll put them away later, after she. . . did what?

She didn't know, but she wanted to look around a little. She looked into the living room and the kitchen and saw nothing of importance. Then she noticed that Xander's bedroom door was opened. She tentatively stepped into his bedroom, but he was not there. The blankets on the bed was shoved back so he definitely had slept last night.

She felt fear creeping into her chest. Where was he? Did he leave her alone in this era? Where was he? Where was Riddick? She wanted Riddick.

She swept from room to room looking. God, she felt like a child looking for a lost parent. Why didn't he leave a message telling her where he would be, or even woken her up in the middle of the night to tell her.

She stopped in the living room inhaling and exhaling through her mouth. Where was he? Why did he just leave her? Was this some sort of joke in era? Take a girl far away from her home and just abandoned her all alone? What was she going to do without any money or background? She needed him, she actually needed him.  
Then her heart leapt as she heard the door opened from the outside. She rushed into kitchen to see Xander banging the door shut behind him carrying a large paper bag.

"Riddick!" She yelled.

Xander looked up at her and she realized that she was about to rush to him and hug him, being so happy to see him. She caught herself and held herself back away from him, even backing away.

Xander stood in the middle of that kitchen staring at her and she stared back at him. "I got groceries, not a dead animal in the bag."

He turned away and set the bag on the kitchen table. She watched him setting items out of the bag and began to fear that she may have hurt his feelings. She hugged herself and leaned against the wall. She began to hear her mother and her inner voice scolding her, _This__ man has been nothing, but kind to you. He has paid your doctor bills, brought you on a full paid vacation ON HIM, bought you enough clothes for you to open your own clothing store, and even provided room and board and not to mention food for you and has NOT asked you for anything in return. SO YOU BE NICE TO HIM!"_

But anothing thing was terrifying her. She realized how much she relied on Xander for everything. When he was gone, then she had nothing, nothing at all. The thick feeling of dread began to overwhelm her as it did when she had believed for a short moment that he had abandoned her.

"That's the third time you called me that." Xander said without looking at her as he set a galleon of milk into the fridge. "Riddick? Is he the guy you has unprotected sex with?"

Rakka wanted more time to weigh the options of telling the truth or lying. She could say that Riddick was her brother, but then that would just be too weird. A minute went by and then other, then Xander was finished putting away the groceries. "You're being quiet, so I guess he is. And I remember you telling me that he'll kick my ass if I tried anything. But I'm figgerin' that since you don't talk about him much that he. . .wasn't very good to ya, was he?"

She still couldn't answer him,

"Is he out there lookin' for you?"

"No, I doubt that he even cares whether I'm alright or not." She was glad that he asked something that she could answer.

"His loss." With that Xander turned back to the bag and began crumbling it up into a ball and tossed it into the trash bin. "I bought a toothbrush for you. I didn't know which brand you liked so I bought two. You choose one and I'll take the other. I went and bought different cereal brands. Rice Krispies, Cheerios, Corn and Frosted Flakes, and Lucky Charms. Help yourself."

He walked passed her and she made herself speak. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"I already ate earlier. I picked up something on the way." Xander replied. "We're not going anywhere till tonight. So just try swimming a little on the beach or watch some t.v."

With that he left the kitchen.

* * *

Rakka sat the table, not eating cereal, but deep in thought. She couldn't believe at how rude she had been. God, what was she thinking acting that way toward him. She should have bit the bullet and hugged and acted happy to see him, but dammit, what scared her was that she was so happy to see him and if she had hugged him then it would have given him ideas about them.

She was also still embarrassed that she had freaked out like a small child missing her parent. She had even looked in the closets for him. She hated depending on him so much that she had to have him around her.

She didn't mean to hurt him, god, she deserved to be slapped across the face the way she treated him. She wanted to stand and go apologize to him, but she felt that she should let it cool down for a bit.

She laid her hands on her folded arms and closed her eyes. She could hear the hum of the refrigerator working and the hiss of the overhead light. Then the roar of the ocean came to her ears.

She lifted her head and looked in the direction of the ocean. She remembered Xander suggesting she try swimming. It might help take her mind off things.

She pushed herself away from the counter and headed for her room. She dug through the bags and pulled out the light blue one piece. She made sure the door was locked before she changed into it. It fit her comfortably snuggly. It was backless showing off her line of spine and covering just before it slipped between her buttocks. She slipped into a pair of loose shorts just to be safe. She even took time to tie her hair into a ponytail.

She stepped outside her room and looked around. Xander must still be in his room. She walked through the living room and out onto the beach for the first time in her life.

* * *

Xander stepped into the kitchen a few minutes after Rakka walked out of the house. He walked over to the selection of cereal boxes and noted that none of them had been opened. She didn't eat at all.

He thought back to when he had last seen her eat. It was at the McDonalds from the New York airport. She hadn't eaten since. Please, God, don't let it be that he picked up an anorexic.

There was a knock at the door. Xander listened and walked to the door, reaching into his waistband and taking out the gun that had been concealed from Rakka by his tucked shirt.

He opened it and saw a tall man, but was a few inches short than himself. He was wearing a colorful Hawaiian shirt and matching shorts with sandals. He had dark skin and raven hair brushed away from his eyes. Xander couldn't tell if he was latino or a native.

"Hey, man, Hi-5." The man held up a hand, giving Xander a very knowing look. Latino, accent gave him away.

Xander slipped the gun back into his waistband and slapped his hand to the man's. "They send you this way?"

"Yeah, they sure did. They said you knew how roll with things."

"They also didn't tell you how I like to roll."

"No, they didn't."

"C'mon in." Xander stepped back giving the man room to enter the house. He shut the door behind them. "Xander Cage."

"Fernando." The man replied.

Xander didn't bothered to ask for his last name. He had met other agents who refused to give their surnames. They were agents much like himself who lived double lives with the government and everyday with family, friends, and neighbors. He never sweated over giving his last name, he trusted Gibbons to keep his family hidden and away from this line of work, and he wasn't living with family. Fernando on the other hand might have more on the line then him.

"So what's your role in this?" Fernando asked as he was led into the kitchen.

"Undercover. Infiltrate. Secure information." Xander said as he headed for a coffee pot. "Coffee?"

"Sure, black, please.' Fernando said taking a seat at the table.

"In other words, my job is to get friendly with the target and get 'em to tell me who's his clients and where he's tryin' to make his big guns." Xander began to prepare coffee. "You?"

"Intelligence." Fernando replied. "While you're playing friendlies, I'm gonna try and see what I can hack from his computers. Also trained in hand to hand and firearms."

"Cool." Xander commented.

"What time are you going to the party?" Fernando asked.

"Dunno. Thinkin' about late. 9:00 to 10:00 tonight when they're really drunk, stupid, and horny."

"What? You're gonna sleep with 'em to get the info?"

"I ain't gonna get the info tonight." Xander said. "I'll be surprised if I do. Just gonna mingle, let myself get known and just sink into their fold."

"Yeah, I heard how you successfully infiltrated the Anarchy 99 a few years back. And that was your first mission?"

"Didn't really have a choice." Xander set a mug of coffee in front of Fernando. "So what's the plan?" Xander didn't want to talk about his first mission for Gibbons. For starters, that was when he unwillingly became Gibbons dog and that was when he met Yelena. . .

"You and the girl go to the party and just do what you do. Act wild, sleep with the target's sister, sleep with the target and whatever you gotta do to get in with them." Fernando took a long sip of coffee and continued, "I'll go as an anonymous partier and just slip up stairs go through their shit. See what I can find, maybe give you some bones to throw them for infiltration."

"Sounds good to me." Xander said.

"The only thing about this plan that bothers me is the girl." Fernando said. "Is she one of us?"

"Civilian." Xander replied.

"You shouldn't take her." Fernando shook his head. "Does she know about. . ."

Xander turned his attention back to the coffee maker. "No, she doesn't know shit."

"I don't know how you work, but I already don't like it. You can't take a civilian into a dangerous situation like that. Especially if she is living with you. What if you get found out and they use her to. . ."

"Look, the less she knows, the better." Xander inserted. "I mean, think about it. How many couples do you think are on this island for a Hawaiian Christmas vacation? Hundreds and it'll just help my cover; Gibbons gave it the okay last night."

"Then I don't like how that scarface works either."

"Neither do I." Xander replied. "Look, let's not piss each other off. We're gonna hafta work together and we may have to rely on each other to watch our backs, and I rather rely on someone I don't dislike."

"Okay, fair enough." Fernando held up his hands in surrender. He took a last sip of his coffee and stood. "I'll call you over the coms later."

"Later." Xander said and watched Fernando leave through the kitchen doorway.

Xander set the mugs in the sink to wash later and headed for the living room. He looked out the window to watch Rakka wading in the sloshing water.


	5. Moment of Peace

Rakka loved the water washing up on the wet sand receding back only to come sloshing back. She had waded out to hip deep and let the waves lash her torso and chest. The only time that she wasn't having a good time was when she got sea water in her eyes and the burned. Also, the water was salty and nasty tasting.

She waded out of the water and froze when she saw Xander standing on the dry sand watching her. He had changed into an open white shirt and jean shorts. He was even wearing flip flop sandals. God, she had never seen Riddick wear anything less than long legged pants and boots, at least, not out in the open.

"You're gonna fry if you don't put this on." He held out a plastic container. "Sun block, the strongest I could find."

She stepped closer realizing that her swimsuit was wet and clinging to her body. . .isn't that what a swimsuit was suppose to do? "Thank you. I just rub it on, right?"

"Yeah, any part that's gonna be out in the sun." Xander replied. He looked up at the sky which was cloudy with pale clouds. "Good thing that it's cloudy this morning."

"Thanks." She repeated and accepted the container. She flipped open the top and a scented smell touched her nostrils.

"Want me to put some on your back?"

She looked up startled. "I can do it."

"Might wanna let me to help you. Trust me as someone that has suffered sunburn. It hurts, turns your skin an ugly red, and your skin peels, and going to bed is a bitch when it's on your back." Xander took the bottle gently from her hands. "Turn around."

She wanted to insist that she could do it herself or better yet, just say that she's tired and could go inside for the rest of the day. Yet, she found herself obediently turning around, her bare back to him.

What was she doing? Rubbing someone's back with sun oil was a sure invitation for sex. God, she was leading him on without meaning to lead him on.

She jumped when the cool cream touched her back snapping her out of her thoughts. Then his hard hand rubbed it along her spine and up her shoulder blades. Her breathing began to quicken and deepen. His hands slipped under the straps of her swimsuit and curl around her shoulders. He must have slipped the bottle into his pocket to use both hands.

The part she had dreaded was starting. He resupplied his hands with more sun block lotion and pressed on her lower back and slid downward. His fingers scooted under the suit and downward, his digits probing lightly the beginning curves of her buttocks. At first, she thought it was her that took a long and shuddering breath, but it was in fact Xander as his hands followed her spine back up to her shoulders.

She could hear him taking a deep swallow and he said, "Want me to stop?"

He wasn't talking about applying lotion to her back either. She parted her lips, but to say what? To say what? She knew exactly what she should say. _Yes, stop rubbing me and getting off on it! _Yet, she said nothing at all, or she couldn't say anything more.

"Rakka, lissen, I need to hear what you want me to do. I want to. . . do a lot with you, but I gotta hear from you that YOU want me to."

His hands felt like bizarre objects on her back and she was getting very uncomfortable and cold. "I'm going inside."

She stepped away from him and walked around him to the house. She didn't look back to see if he was following her or watching her, she didn't want to know at all. She fled into her bedroom and locked the door. Then she rushed to the bathroom and vomited into the toilet.

* * *

God, she was a skittish. She just about ran from him as if he had come at her with a axe.

Xander looked across the ocean and listened to the white noise of the sloshing water. He knew he had been a little in the wrong for insisting on applying sun block to her back, but he just had to touch her. Despite the baggy shorts, she had looked like something that stepped out of a swimsuit magazine, God, if only she was wearing a bikini.

He had thought that he could control himself rubbing her back, but her skin was smooth, soft, and perfect and that spine, he never thought he could get turned on by rubbing someone's back. He had nearly begged her to allow him to go further, and he wasn't willing to be accused as forceful if he sneaked a grope.

Damn, he needed to go inside and get a cold shower.

* * *

Rakka took a warm shower, to wash off the salt from her skin and hair. And the sun block on her back.

When she toweled off, she brushed out her wet hair and pulled on a white long night shirt and curled in up in bed. She hugged a pillow tightly to her chest and felt like crying into it. She wanted to go home; she wanted her parents, her room, her life back, and the knowledge that she was never going to get those things back.

She was stuck with a strange man in and strange era and in a strange world. She felt so alone and lonely. She felt so empty, she wanted someone to just hold her, to fill the void in her soul.

* * *

Xander got out of the shower and changed into a long jean pants, and a white t-shirt that showed off his muscles and tattoos. He was about to select a pair of shoes when he heard a tentative knock on the door.

He stood straight and stared at it, "It's open."

The door opened slowly and Rakka was standing in the doorway wearing a long white night shirt he bought for her yesterday. Her long hair was dark from being wet and she looked very pale. Her blue-violet eyes looked red as if she had cried several minutes ago. "Rakka?"

"I. . .I want you to." She whispered so softly he almost didn't hear her.

* * *

Xander didn't say anything or moved. Maybe he didn't understand what she said or what she meant. She was about to repeat herself when he suddenly said, "You sure. I mean, it's completely okay with you?"

She nodded. "I took a Pill before I came."

"I'm still gonna wear a condom, kay?"

She nodded. Xander stepped across the room to her and she stepped closer. "Are you scared?"

"Maybe, a little." She admitted.

A hard hand touched her shoulder and smoothed up her neck. "It's okay. We don't have to. We'll do whatever you want, okay?"  
She nodded.

Her head was tilted upward and his mouth touched hers. It was gentle and exploring at the same time, very unlike Riddick's violent and taking kisses. His tongue stroked her lips apart and slipped into her mouth. She was not unfamiliar with French kissing and her tongue stroked his, her hands were on his shoulders and then his cheeks. His large hands stroked her shoulders and one cupped the back of her head.

He parted from her and whispered against her mouth. "Wanna take this to the bed?"

"Yes." She whispered back.

He curled an arm around her shoulders and led her to the bed. He stretched out on it, pulling her with him. She was arranged on her side, facing him. His arms curled around her and his mouth was on her face.

God, this felt so good. This was nothing like Riddick who was into rough handling. She felt safer and more encouraged to explore him. Her fingers traced the outer folds of his ears and rub the back of his neck. His large hand ran along her side and over her hip.

Her hands ached to touch his chest and her hands had a will of their own as they untucked his shirt and shoved it up his chest. She stopped in mid motion of devouring his stomach, ribs, and chest when she saw the tattoos on his stomach and nipple. Around his navel was a circlet of spikes right above it was an image of reaching flames. And around his right nipple were little flames that made it look like a sun.

"You ain't offended by tattoos, are ya?" He asked seeing what she was staring at. He shucked off the shirt and tossed it lazily to the floor.

"No, I didn't know that these were here." She replied.

"You should look lower." He replied. She gave him a strange look and he quickly replied, "I don't have any tattoos in that area of my body. Just above it."

She rubbed her fingers over the flames between his ribs. It wasn't paint, it didn't smear or stain her fingers, it was part of him. "Didn't it hurt?"

"No, it just tingled a little, but it was cool." He replied.

She ran her fingers up to his tattooed nipple and rubbed it too. It became hard against her thumb and Xander took a deep intake of air, his hand on her shoulder moved around to cup the back of her head. She felt pressure of her to move her face closer to his chest. She wanted it too.

Her lips closed around his hard nipple, her tongue probing the hard nub of flesh. Xander rolled onto his back pulling her with him, but carefully not to break her contact with his nipple. She even gave it was small tug with her teeth and he groaned. She turned her attentions to the other nipple and gave it the same treatment.

Xander's hands started tugging her nightshirt up her thighs and was about to pull it over her hips, but he paused. "Rakka, is this alright with you? Or do you need. . ."

"Go ahead." She mumbled against his chest.

Xander pulled her night shirt up to her shoulder where she had to push herself away from his chest to pull it over her head and it soon met the floor beside his shirt. She leaned forward to resume her treatment on his chest, but he caught her shoulders and made her sit up straight, his dark eyes devouring her bare breasts and body.

She held a dazed look in her face and her eyes looked a bit glazed over from lust, and she was giving him a confused and unsure look. His hand slide up her ribs and he said, "Rakka, smile for me, baby."

She smiled, her lips up turning into an unsure grin, not real, but nothing less than beautiful. Xander emitted a soft purring sigh and he pulled her down to him, across his chest. He shoved her mouth into his and she greedily accepted his tongue. Her arms curled around his neck and his hands cupped her panty covered buttocks with both hands. Pretty soon, his hands were at her breasts, and gave her same treatment that she had given him.

She laid on her back while he leaned over her, his mouth on her breast and a hand on her stomach. Her hands stroked the scrubbed of his head; her eyes closed and sighed slowly through her mouth.

Xander leaned up and kissed her mouth long and softly. He murmured against her mouth, "Ready?"

She whispered back, "Yes, condom?"  
"Yeah, I didn't forget." He replied into her mouth.

He sat up off her and straightened. He undid his pants and boxers pushed off his hips and stood to shove them down his legs. Rakka watched him lazily, watching his ass move as he stepped out of the last of his clothes and go to open a drawer. He sat on the edge of the bed near her as he removed a small box from it. He tore it opened it to remove a square shape bit of plastic and tore it open too.

Rakka felt a tremor of fear. This was it, she was actually going through with it. She knew she could stop right now and Xander might complain, but he would stop. However, she found herself removing her underwear and tossing it over Xander it landed on the floor.

"Good shot." Xander commented as he turned back to her. He held up a rubber ring. "I got Trojan, I use it because I have yet to have it tear or slip off during, you know."

It didn't help to know that Xander was a lot more experienced than her. He was the second guy she ever had sex with and the first time use a condom. "It doesn't matter to me."

"They got all kinds of brands." Xander said arranging himself between her legs. "I got plain magnum, latex. I hope you're not sensitive to latex."

"I don't know." She replied keeping her eyes on his chest.

"I guess we'll find out." Xander shifted forward and bent his head downward at his erection. "Give me a second."

She folded her hands on her belly and watched him carefully roll the condom downwards onto his penis. He made sure it was securely on before he coaxed her legs further apart by push at her thighs. She swallowed as he spread her apart with his fingers and looked at her. "God, you're so red and wet. And beautiful, baby, just beautiful."

That brought a small smile to her lips and she shifted to get comfortable while he shifted forward and the tip of his touched her opening. Then his head slipped inside and the rest followed. She groaned as he filled her and since he was wearing a condom, she had prepared for cool plastic, not searing warmth. He bumped against her cervix, and he was completely inside her. "You okay, baby?"

She nodded and shifted her hips. Xander withdrew from her all the way out and stroked forward all the way inside. She leaned her head back and dull groan left her throat which was soon kissed by Xander. He stroked in a slow rhythm, his hands sliding up her arms to grasp her hands, lacing his fingers with hers.

It was like the shore outside. The sensations washing away and forward inside her stomach and lower regions. She couldn't keep quiet, moans and breathless cries left her open mouth, while Xander groaned and grunted above her. Then she felt herself climax, felt the warm liquid drizzle around Xander's pumping penis and ooze between her buttocks. She didn't know when he climaxed, because it was all contained within his condom.

She made a dull whimper as he withdrew from her and removed his condom. It was soaked and holding his cum. He slowly leaned up from the bed and reached toward a box of tissues where he snatched a few. He wrapped them around the condom and tossed it into a nearby trash can.

He settled down beside her, pulling her into his arms. "Honey, that was fuckin' good."

She laid her head on his tattoo arm and closed her eyes. She was happy for that she forgot the pain she had been feeling before she came to this man's room.


	6. Dress

Xander couldn't help, but feel drowsy. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night due to the planning and had gone out that night to several clubs around the island to garner whatever information he could attain about Ryo Marin. He pulled Rakka closer and kissed the top of her head. He leaned his head back into the pillow and closed his eyes.

Rakka stared up at the ceiling. Not thinking or feeling. She was lying naked in bed with a man she had met two nights ago. This was so unlike her at all.

She realized that Xander had fallen asleep, a thick arm still around her. She moved and his arm fell away, but he didn't wake up. She got off the bed and grabbed her nightshirt off the floor.

She quietly went into her bedroom and locked the door. She headed into the bathroom and took a long warm shower. She couldn't help, but realize that she felt better as the water washed over her. It was as if Xander had drained away all the anxiety from her with sex.

She toweled off and got dressed into a pair of blue jean shorts and a white button up shirt. She slipped her feet into a pair of flip-flops and left the bedroom. She suddenly realized that she was hungry and headed for the kitchen.

* * *

Xander woke up an hour later. He had lain in the fogginess of the space between sleep and being awake trying to think about what he was missing. Then he remembered.

He sat up and looked around as if expecting to see Rakka standing around. He swung his legs out of bed and pulled on his discarded jeans. He zipped himself up as he left the bedroom. "Rakka?"

"In here."

He stepped into the kitchen to see Rakka eating cereal at the table. He was relieved that she was still there and that she was eating something. "Havin' sex makes ya hungry?"

"No." She replied through a mouthful. "I just hadn't had anything for a while."

Xander walked across the kitchen floor and pulled up a chair and sat across from her. "When ya get through wanna go back for round two?"

Rakka swallowed her mouthful and said, "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Xander said amused.

"Maybe." She grinned at him.

Now this was the Rakka he wanted. Now the sulky and mopey one that slouch around and looked scared enough to run at the slightest sound. And what was best, she wasn't pissed at him and seemed happy to see him. He guessed that a good screwing was what cured her.

"Feeling more up to a party tonight?" He asked.

"Maybe."

"More maybes? Think you're gonna be certain about something?"

"This cereal is good."

"That doesn't count."

"It does to me."

Before Xander could make a remark, the phone rang. Not the house's phone, but the phone he kept hidden in a briefcase in his bedroom. Rakka looked around with her eyebrows furrowed looking for the source of the ringing.

Where was it coming from? The phone on the far wall was silent.

Xander got to his feet and said, "Cell phone. I'll be right back."

She watched him leave staring at his bare back. Something was nagging at her, but she couldn't tell what. His 'cell phone' was ringing so he had to go answer it.

But her intuition told her that something else was going on. It didn't matter though. It was none of her business. So far Xander has been honest with her and seemed to really care about her.

She finished up her cereal and put away the cereal and then washed the bowl and spoon.

* * *

An hour later found her sitting in front of the t.v watching a comedy which she found amusing. It was about this group of six friends, three women and three men. The show was even titled Friends. She found herself liking Joey and Chandler the best. They always had some sort of joke or antic for any situation.

Xander was still in his room talking on his 'cell phone' and hadn't came out yet. It must be a very private call for him to actually lock the door. Twenty minutes ago, she had popped some popcorn to eat while watching television and she wanted to see if Xander wanted to join her.

She had only started toward his bedroom door and had gotten within one foot from it before it opened. Xander stepped out and faced her as if he knew she was coming. He gave her a strange look. Not angry, but not happy to see her near his bedroom. He held the door across against his body as if blocking her view from his inside of his bedroom.

"Rakka, somethin' wrong?" He asked in a tone that told her that he wanted this interaction to end as soon as possible.

"I. . .I wanted to see if you wanted to join me. I made popcorn." She said taken aback from this sudden attitude.

"Naw, I'm fine. I'll join ya later though. See ya later." With that Xander shut the door in her face and she heard the click as it was locked.

She went back to the living room and curled up on the couch. She tried to not let Xander's attitude toward her bother her. She reminded herself that she hadn't exactly been one hundred percent friendly toward him.

She dozed off on the couch. She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, all she knew that she on the couch and was being shaken awake by Xander.

* * *

"Honey, wake up, we got time to get ready and before we go."

She sat up feeling groggy from sleep and confused. Didn't she fell asleep beside Xander after sex? Suddenly the last few hours came back to her. She had watched several hours of television before falling asleep.

"What time is it?"  
"5:00. I wanna hit the party at 9:00, but I know women need hours to get ready."

"I don't need five hours to get ready." Rakka replied rubbing her eyes. "All I'll need is a quick shower and just throw something on."

"I know." Xander grinned and sat beside her, his thick arm sliding around her shoulders and pulling her close to his side. "But this is a. . .pretty big party. You might wanna do more than jes throw something on. Hair, makeup and all that. But I jes thought we might wanna have a little party of our own first."

She inhaled his scent and her body shuddered with desire. She placed a hand on his blue jean covered thigh and gave the hard muscle underneath a light squeeze. "Here?"

"Yeah, but up a little." Xander groaned into her ear.

"No, I meant. . ." She moved her hand upward, her fingers lightly brushing against the growing bulge in his pants. "Right here on the couch?"

Xander shifted his hips, parting his thighs and said, "Yeah, baby, right here."

Rakka couldn't decide whether it was talking about her hand lightly touching his crotch or about having sex on the couch. Xander grabbed her wrist and made her hand cup his crotch. She felt her face blushing and the heat of sex rose to her face. Xander was slightly grinding himself against her palm.

"Is the door locked?" She asked. God, if someone walked in and saw her cupping his crotch. . .she would just die.

"Yeah." Xander replied. "Got the condom right here too." He patted his pocket.

With that reassurance, she gave his restrained cock a squeeze through jeans. Xander tilted his head backward and groan low in his throat. She liked his reaction. She leaned forward, scooting her lower body backwards down the couch and leaned over his thigh gave his crotch a kiss.

"Damn." Xander hissed and his hands were undoing his pants. Rakka leaned up, supporting her weight on her hands and arms, giving him room to open his fly. His erection sprang free.

She hesitantly touched it with her fingers lightly before wrapping her hand around it. Xander was smoothing his hand down her back, through her hair, and over her bottom and back up. She touched the tip of it with her tongue and then swirl it around and over it as if it was a small ice cream cone except it was warm and pulsing with life. Xander was panting above her and his hands on her back tighten on her clothes.

She felt a gentle tug on her hair and she looked up to see Xander looking at her with eyes glazed over with sexual hunger. "Honey, lemme look at you before you do that."

Confused, she sat up feeling like she just woke up from a long sleep again. Xander moved her onto his lap facing him. His hands cupped her buttocks and pulled her closer, his mouth on her neck.

She sighed, leaning into him, pressing her cheek against his. His cologne filled her head and it stoked the fire inside her body. Her arms slide around his shoulders and she kissed his neck in return. She could feel his erection pressing against her as if seeking entry into her body by itself.

'This feels good." She whispered into his ear. Her teeth gently tugged his earlobe.

Xander made a small purr in his throat which vibrated his chest against her. She ran her lips along his cheek and met his mouth in a deep drink of a kiss. Her fingers light stroked the velvety fuzz of his head loving the feel of it.

She felt him undoing her jean shorts and she leaned back to give him room. Her pants were peeled back to reveal the creamy white panties beneath. He ran his fingers along the middle of the cotton to her crotch. She shifted her hips as shivers danced along her skin.

She let her flip-flops slip off her feet and she stepped back onto the floor and let Xander push the shorts down her legs. She stepped out of them, kneeling astride Xander's thighs and her body was crushed against his body. She could feel the hard thickness of his erection pressing against the thin cotton of her panties.

Her shirt was being unbuttoned. She couldn't tell whether it was her hands or his undoing each button. Maybe both.

Xander sighed with delight when the shirt was open revealing her breasts. She had chosen to go without a bra. Both of his hands came up to fondle her breasts and she felt the heat roll down her spine. Her hands found the hem of his shirt and it was lifted up showing off tattoos and muscle.

She tilted forward and kissed the sun of his right nipple. His rough thumbs rolled over the sensitive nubs of her nipples and she moaned against his. The small vibration of her humming lips sent a shock of electricity down his spine and he lean his head back. "Shit. . ."

An arm snaked around her and their bodies were lifted and shifted. She was laid on her back on the couch, her shoulders supported by the arm of the couch. Xander hovered over her, supporting his weight on one hand on the arm of the couch by her head. The other was at the elastic lining of her panties.

She lifted her hips and Xander slid them off her legs. Her sex was wet and glistened in the light as her thighs were parted. One leg hung off the edge of the couch while the other was pressed into the cushioning of the back. Xander straightened and pushed his jeans down his hips, thighs, and just below his knees.

He leaned forward, one foot on the floor and his right leg bent on the couch. Rakka bent her legs back just far back toward her chest before any further back they would start to hurt. She stared at the tattoo of flames between Xander's ribs move at each panting breath he took. With the glistening sweat on his body and his breathing they looked real, like fire licking upwards with a life and lust of its own.

Xander held himself with one hand while the other cupped the back of one of her legs, lifting it up to give him more space to penetrate. The head touched her opening where he rubbed it, getting the natural lubricants onto his flesh.

Rakka closed her eyes, waiting for that fulfilling penetration, but something was nagging at her. Something that they should have done before. . .

He slid inside halfway before she remembered.

"Wait." Her hand came up and pressed against his chest, halting him before he could push all the way into her. "Condom."

"SHIT!" He hissed in a rumbling, yet husky tone.

He yanked out of her and reached back into the jeans' pockets. He jerked out the square plastic and tore it open. He fumbled with the round rubber as he set backwards from her, giving her space to slightly lower her legs into a more comfortable position. It took him a few tried before he managed to roll it down his length with frantic fingers.

When it was securely on, he leaned forward over her and said, "Sorry, babe, forgot about it."

"It's okay." She replied, but the nagging feeling didn't stop. She felt as if there was something she should have done, but she couldn't remember what.

As if Xander was in a hurry to pick up where he left off, he moved his hips forward and guided himself inside. There was a moment of discomfort before it exploded into a torrent of hard pleasure. Xander's hips piston into her and the reaching flames on his chest seemed to dance erotically for her.

Her breathing came in short and quick breaths, but they soon were exchanged for whimpers and low cries. She felt her small explosion dribble along her outer folds and drip between her buttocks. Xander gave one last thrusting shove which pushed hard against her cervix making her wince. His large frame relaxed as he released a long breath and he pulled out of her.

He set back on the couch beside as she set up crossing her legs Indian style. Xander pulled off the glistening condom from his deflating erections. He had nothing to roll it up in, but that didn't seem to matter to him now, he simply dropped it to the floor and leaned against the couch exhausted.

She ran her fingers along her calf feeling tired, full, but. . .empty. It was fun, but not. . .the feeling didn't after the fun was over. Not like with Riddick. . .She stared at Xander and saw the differences that she had missed. Xander was relaxed, not constantly tense as if expecting an attack from anything. This one eye's were dark brown, not icy silver. Tattoos marred smooth bronzed skin laying hard muscles. No goggles, no intensity, no danger, no thrill or satisfaction that filled her and kept her sated afterwards, but wanting more.

She just felt so empty now. She wanted Riddick. She wanted the fun back. God, what was wrong with her?

"What's wrong?"

She looked up to see Xander looking at her. Oh God. "Nothing. I'm just kinda tired right now."

"Hey, I can end up doing that if I'm not careful." Xander grinned.

Riddick never grinned, only if he was getting something that he wanted. He never made a movement that wasn't unnecessary. She just wanted to get away from this imposter. . .now.

"I'm going to take a shower." She said getting off the couch.

"Yeah." Xander began zipping up his pants and buttoning up. "Gotta take care of a few things."

She scooped her clothes off the floor and held her flip-flops in one hand. She felt shaky and feverish as if she was getting over the flu or some virus.

The feeling that she had forgotten something began to ebb away and she wondered what she had forgotten.

* * *

Hours later placed her on a boat heading toward some private island wearing a bright red dress, her hair styled away from her face, and matching high heel ankle straps. Xander was stood near her wearing tight jeans, black boots, and a sleeveless white tank top which showed off his tattoos on his arms. The bottom of the shirt brushed the top of his pants just barely sometimes giving glimpses of the tattoo across his stomach.

The dress wasn't something she would have chosen for herself. The dress was red, the truest color of lust and sex. The skirt was open at the front and flared back in frills nearly to her ankles showing off her knees, thighs, and a matching g-string that came with the dress. The top was held up by the tied knot at the back of her neck and the red cloth seemed to meld to her waist and breasts and in the cool breeze, her peaked nipples could be easily made out protruding through the cloth. She took an hour to style her hair and it hung in curls down her back held back by a red clip.

She shifted her feet, feeling very uncomfortable in the six inch high heel shoes. She remember when she was a little girl, she would try on her mother's shoes. Her mother never had any shoes with the heel higher than an inch. She had wished her mother would get shoes with high heels like the ones in beautiful women wore on the vid. Years later, now, Rakka understood why her mother gotten any such shoes. They were too damn after being worn a short while and you felt as if she could easily twist her ankle.

She still couldn't believe that she went along and wore this. She felt half naked and so exposed. Especially with the g-string. It was loose to be comfortable, but tight enough to stay right in place where it was needed to be. It very much unnerved her that the only thing covering her genitals from the world was a thin line of velvet with pleasure pearls sewn in which, despite her attempts to ignore it sent thrills of pleasure up her stomach at each step she took and even when she shifted her legs.

She could feel every man's eyes on her and even from some women. . .and not all of them were jealous or admiring looks. Xander stood near her with a big grin on his face as if he was a fisherman that had the biggest catch of the day. The dress was his idea. She remembered back to when she was getting ready.

* * *

She had just taken a shower and wrapped a towel around her torso. Her damp hair hung down her back tangled curls. She was going through the clothes in the store bags trying to find something to wear to the party. She had chosen a pair of jeans and a simple dress shirt when Xander came in with a box in hand.

She had tensed, but reminded herself that twice she had slept with this man and he pretty much knew what she looked like naked.

"Gonna wear that?" He looked at the jeans and shirt she had laid across the bed.

"What's wrong with it?" She asked looking at the clothes.

"Nothing, but I want you to wear this." He placed the box on the bed on top of the jeans.

Rakka looked at him as opened the box. At first, she thought it was a fashionable red dress, and she was happy to receive, that is until further inspection made her step away shaking her head. "No way. No. Only way I'd wear that is if I also wear the jeans underneath."

"Aw, c'mon." Xander pleaded.

She shook her head. "No. Bring it back when they finish making it."

"Rakka, trust me, the party we're going to tonight. . .there are going to be women wearing even less than this."

"Xander, is there going to be drinking at this party?"

"Yeah and a whole lotta other shit too."

Rakka shook her head. "I don't think I want to be half naked in a room full of drunk or high men."

"I won't let anything happen to ya." Xander said as if she was being an incompliant child.

Rakka shook her head again and crossed her arms. "Just looking at that dress makes me naked."

"You are naked."

"I know that. . .but that dress. . .no."

"Rakka, baby." Xander slid his hands onto her waist and pulled her close to his side. "Baby, you have a wonderful body. I mean it. You should show it off."

"You just want to show me off."

"Hey, what's wrong with that?" Xander said in a purring tone. "What's wrong with me wantin' to show off my girl?"

What was wrong was that she wasn't his girl. Wasn't she? She had had sex with him twice now, he had spent thousands on clothes for her, took her a vacation. . .God, she was his girl. . .

She stepped forward, almost out of Xander's arm and picked up the thong. She studied the front, which was a small red triangle and the thin strip that would cover her genitals. . .wait. . .

"What are these?" She fingered the crotch and saw that small little white balls lined the crotch line.

"Oh, those are pleasure pearls." Xander said in a husky tone. "Gives ya a little bounce in yer step."

* * *

Thus here she was wearing the dress and being Xander's girl.

He drove her to some dock where teenagers and young adults were waiting for some boat to take them to some private island. Xander was right. She saw a fifteen year old girl wearing a string bikini top and shorts so short and tight they looked like a blue jean thong. Her hair was cut in a pixie style and she had enough eye shadow on that she looked like a raccoon. She was hanging onto this tall lean man with enough piercings on his face that Rakka had to wonder how high is his pain tolerance?

Rakka stared at her wondering where in the world was her mother? Or father? She knew her mother would NEVER have let her leave the house looking like that. . .then again, she knew her mother wouldn't be happy about this dress either.

Beers, vodka, cigarettes, and other various stuff was passed around. Of course, like Xander predicted, every guy's eye was on her. She never wanted to wear a pair of pants more than she ever did at that moment.

She stayed closed to Xander and she couldn't help but notice that the men would try to sidle closer, but kept respectable distance due to Xander. Girls threw her nasty looks as they glanced at her dress and stared lustfully at Xander.

Rakka wanted nothing more than to go back to the car and demand that Xander take her back to the cottage. Before she could work up her nerve, the boat came and they boarded.


	7. Party

The boat ride was long. Thankfully the air was warm and she didn't freeze in the dress. She was also thankful that Xander kept his promise and stayed by her side throughout the trip.

They stayed at the front of the boat. . .or was it the bow?

"Hey, Rakka." Xander whispered into her ear. "Move other there." He was pointed at the very front of the ship, the point. She stepped carefully over to the spot not sure why Xander wanted her there and he followed her keeping close to her. "Now face the front, out toward the ocean."

She turned still puzzled as to what he wanted. She placed both hands on the rails and face the emptiness. It still unnerved her at how the boat moved in the water. It was her very first time being on a boat in real water. At first, she felt sick, but as she got her 'sea legs', as Xander called it when she complained and he reassured her, she felt better.

Her skirt was blow back showing off her legs and blew her hair back away from her face. Xander stepped close behind her, his front brushing against her back.

"Remember this?" He asked.

"Remember what?"

"This." He put his hands on the rail near hers. "You know."

"No, I don't know." She looked over her should at him.

"Titanic."

"Titanic?"

"Remember that scene? Jeez, you women seen the movie at least thirty times each. I remember having to sit through it about 25 times for dates."

Rakka still had no clue as to what he was talking about. She shook her head again and said, "I still don't get it."

"Please, don't tell that you have never seen the movie."

"What movie?"

Xander sighed and said, "Maybe one day, when I can stomach it, I'll rent it for you to watch."

"Okay." Rakka murmured still unsure.

Xander didn't step away though, in fact, he edged even closer to her. She could feel his rough clothes through the silk of the dress. He leaned forward and whispered in a purr that sent shivers down her spine, "How do the pearls feel?"

This made a smile tug at her lips and said, "Weird."

"Weird?" He asked and a large hand touched her waist.

"Yeah, weird." She replied suddenly feeling playful.

His hand slid down her side and along her hip. "What? It doesn't feel good?"

Rakka leaned forward slightly, putting weight on the rail. "A little."

Xander slipped his hand on the flaring skirt touching her bare buttock. He gave it a small squeeze before drawing his finger underneath the red string that drew down along the line between Rakka's buttocks. He gave it a small tug.

Rakka gave a quick intake of air, her eyes wide. The pleasure pearls pressing against her like that was. . .wonderful. Another tug made her bow her back, almost pressing her read against Xander's pelvis. He took a very small step back without removing his hand.

He began to give constant tugs to the string and she began to gyrate her hips to his tugs. Her heart began to pound in her ears and she could also hear Xander's coming in deep and low. She knew he was getting hard in his pants and aroused her even more.

Her hands tightened in the rail so hard her knuckles were white. A small red purse she had brought with her hung looped onto her arm and swayed from her gyration. She kept her knees apart, but not too far apart. She didn't want to slip and fall.

She didn't care if people may notice, fuck, they probably did nastier things in public than this. Yet, it made the experience even more sexy.

Xander's tugging increased and the pearls made her thighs tighten. She clenched her lips tight together for fear of making too loud sounds, yet she still hummed lowly to herself at each tug.

She felt it building up, like water in a balloon, expect her balloon was about to pop from excess water. At first, she stopped with deep breaths. Xander put his free hand on her hip as if to steady her and his tugs became hard snatches which sent sweet agony through her mind. Then she couldn't hold it or stop it. The orgasm overwhelmed her mind and she ejaculated. She felt it spew over the pearls, soak the fabric of the g-string, and drops roll down her inner thighs.

Xander released the string and stepped back to give her room to catch her breath. A grin revealed his white teeth and he leaned over and kissed her. She was too out of breath to respond to his lips on hers.

She straightened her legs and whispered, "I need to go to the bathroom."

"There's one on the boat." Xander replied touching her arm. "I need you to walk in front of me. I think I'm going to break the zipper on my pants I'm so hard."

Rakka stifled a giggle behind her hand. She whispered real low, "Want me to suck you off in the bathroom?"

Xander's eyebrows arched and leering grin broke across his face. "If I asked nicely, would you swallow?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe."

"Let's go." Xander tightened his hold on her arm and he quicken his steps toward the back of the boat. They treaded through the crowd, actually, the crowd spread for them. Xander went first and led her after him.

"Hey." A man stepped in front of Xander staring at his face. He wore jeans and a leather jacket with a white shirt underneath. He wore a thick gold chain hanging from his neck. He dark hair and olive skin with perfect white teeth. "Are you Xander Cage? From the Xander Zone?. Triple X?"

"Yeah, man, that's me." Xander said with a broad grin.

The man's eyes widen and he said, "Oh my God! I knew it! I knew I saw your tattoos from somewhere."

Rakka stared at him and then at Xander. Was Xander a celebrity? She remember back to when he was surprised she didn't recognize his name. He said something about online videos.

"Man, I've seen all your videos!"

Xander took Xander's arm and guided her to stand in front of him. He had his hands on her shoulders, keeping her between him and his fan. Rakka took a small step backwards and realized why he had her in front of him. To hide his bulging erection. The thought of people seeing him having a boner while talking to another man would have be very embarrassing.

The man appraised her with his eyes with one quick glance before returning his admiration onto Xander. "Lemme introduce you to the guys."

Xander gave her arms a squeeze as if telling her to be patient. She wondered about him. His erection must be in desperate agony the way it was pressing into her back.

She walked with Xander toward the back of the boat, toward a small group of people. Among them was the fifteen year old girl whose mother Rakka had wondered about. She was still with her boyfriend, the man of many rings in his face.

Among them was a man with more tattoos than Xander, if that was all possible. Dragons or snakes slithered up his arms and she could make out strange designs on chest and neck. Where Xander was clean shaven and hairless, this man had too much hair instead. His hair was long and tangled as was his beard. Two dull brown eyes could be seen through the mess of hair.

Hanging off his arm was a thin boned woman with tight fitting leather pants that clung so tightly to her legs that Rakka was sure she wore no underwear. She had what looked like it was once a shirt, but it held so many rips in it that Rakka couldn't fathom at how it could stay on by itself. Also, it could be seen that she wasn't wearing a bra either. She had olive skin like Xander's fan and dark hair to match. Rakka even could make out distinctive resemblances in their faces. Were they related?

The fan stopped near this group and held a hand out to them. "Hey, do you know who this is?"

All four of them glanced at Xander and the man all the piercing said, "Xander Cage. From Xander Zone."

"Yeah, man!"

Then they started the introductions and giving Xander compliments on his videos. The fan's name was Albert Resenaro and the woman who looked like him was his twin sister Alessa Carter with her husband Matthew Carter, the large burly and tattoo man. The fifteen year old girl was Kiki, for some reason Albert left off the last name and Rakka wondered if Kiki was her even her real name. Her boyfriend was Nick, no last name either.

"This is Rakka Laotaner." Xander introduced her.

"She French?" Kiki asked staring at her.

"No. I'm not French." Rakka replied. She had to catch herself before she said that she was Hitomian.

"But you ain't from around here." Kiki persisted.

"No, I'm not."

"There where are you from?"

Before Rakka could start thinking of a suitable lie, Albert looked angrily at Kiki. "Dammit, girl, leave Xander's woman alone. Damn, you are so fucking nosy."

Kiki gave him a dirty look, but kept staring at Rakka with jealousy. Rakka wondered what her problem was.

The men kept talking about the videos and Rakka listened closely. Xander had totaled twenty cars, smashed fifteen motorcycles, parachuted off a building after he sprayed graffiti on the wall, drove a car off a bridge, and so on and so on. Rakka listened with horror at all of this. No matter what time period or culture you were in, something like this had GOT to be illegal.

She was so stunned that she didn't notice that Xander's erection was slowly deflating. She was able to step away to his side, but his arm still hooked around her shoulders as if he didn't like for her to be away from him.

She shifted her feet and clutched her purse between her hands nervously. She didn't understand anything about this internet thing, but it reminded her of the Net back in her time. She felt alone, very, very alone right now.

* * *

It wasn't too long before the boat finally arrived at the island. She stayed near Xander's side while they walked down the ramp off the boat.

The island was surprising small. It held a small beautiful beach and an enormous castle like mansion. There had to be over a five hundred people. People swimming and making out in the pool, people dancing outside in provocative fashion in front of a DJ with massive stereos, people eating and drinking at various buffets, and other just having a good time.

This was called a party? This was what she called a madhouse. The last party she had been to that resembled something like this was in high school, she had went to a senior party which had taken place in one student's apartment. It was considered a tea party compared to this.

And Xander was right. There were women wearing less than the dress. There were women and girls actually swimming topless in the pool.

She clutched tightly to Xander's arm and swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. She wanted to get right back on the boat and so straight back to the main island. Yet, she allowed Xander to guide her forward through the front gates.

She nearly wet herself when a teenage boy, shirtless and wearing wet trunks, wrapped his arms around her. He just came out of no where and threw his arms around her.

"I love you, baby. You are so beautiful."

He tried to kiss her, but Rakka regained her mind and squealed. She scratched his arms and struggled to get him off. He was flung off by Xander who shoved him back into the crowd where he danced off giggling and laughing like a maniac.

Rakka's heart pounded almost painfully beneath her breast. Electric shocks ran up and down her arm as the shock settled in.

"Rakka?" Xander touched her shoulder and she jumped and stepped away.

"He. . .he. . ." She shuddered. The man jumped on her as if there was no massive crowd around.

"Rakka, it's okay. He wasn't trying to hurt you. The guy didn't know what he was doing. He's so high he'd have sex with a dog and not remember it in the morning."

Rakka couldn't stop shaking. Xander pulled her closer to toward a high fountain with bubbling and splashing water, away from the line of people entering the estate.

"I. . .I want to go home." She felt like crying, her eyes were beginning to blur.

"Honey, honey, it's alright, it's alright. Look, don't cry, okay." Xander squeezed her shoulders. "Let me get you a drink and sit down, okay. It's not that serious."

She felt that it was very serious. Xander led her through the crowd toward the front glass doors. Thankfully, the parlor was empty except for a few couples talking and sitting deep comfortable looking armchairs and couches. Through a far door, Rakka could see a large pool table with several guys playing pool. Not too far away from their game was a card table with a game of poker being played.

The floor was made of polish wood and the furnishings of the parlor looked expensive. It gave off all signs that the owner of the mansion was a millionaire or even a billionaire.

Xander led her to an empty deep cushioned red chair near the fireplace. She sank down into it and felt better. Her dress was the same shade of red as the armchair and blended perfectly together. She looked like a head and a pair of legs floating above the chair. The glowing embers gave off the hint that there had been a fire burning here before too long ago.

"I'll be right back." Xander told her.

He moved to go, but she caught his wrist. "No, don't leave me alone."

"Rakka, it's going to be alright. There are not guys lined up to jump you the second I'm away."

Yet, Rakka felt as if there were. Xander left her to get drinks and she glanced around, her eyes wide. There were some people curiously staring at her and there were some men watching her with interested eyes. One blonde haired man was watching her intensely with blue eyes.

Suddenly, her fear was shoved aside to allow her fury to come through. How dare Xander talk her into wearing this dress? He knew something like what had happened earlier would happen if she wore this. He doesn't care as long as he gets to show her off as if she was prized catch. She told him she didn't want to come to this party, but no, he made her come any like he made her come on his stupid vacation. He better not make her stay here when she don't want to be here anymore. She just wanted to go home and put some clothes on.

To her horror, the blond and blue eyed man was rising out of his seat and was heading toward her. He was wearing a dark silk button up shirt with an expensive looking pairs of pants. He wore gold loop in his right hear which glinted in the over head light. He looked to be around her age and was very good looking with high cheek bones and pale skin.

She was terrified. She couldn't understand what it was. She remembered a time when she would have been thrilled to be approached by a man as handsome as this, but now she wanted to run screaming.

Luckily, before the man was more than halfway to her, Xander showed up. He held two bottles in both hands and gave her one which she happily accepted. She was so happy to see him that she forgotten all the anger she had felt toward him.

The blonde man halted in his step and stared at Xander. His blue eyes studied him and then her. She silently pleaded with him.

_Please, go sit down. Go pick up some other girl. See, I'm already with someone. See how big and strong looking he is? He can break you in half and getting into my pants isn't worth that. _

To Rakka's relief he turned around and began to walk away, but not without looking back at her. He saw her looking at him and Rakka swore she saw a look of determination in his eyes. She suddenly knew that she had not seen the last of him.

"Damn, Rakka, what the hell is wrong?"

She looked up to see Xander looking irritated at her. She shook her head and unscrewed the top of the bottle. "I'm just still spooked, okay?"

"Rakka, the guy was high and just thought you looked hot enough to steal a kiss. You're actin' like he attacked with you razors." Xander took a seat in the armchair across from hers.

"Can you blame me?" Rakka asked taking a quick sniff of the contents of the bottle. It smelled like an alcoholic beverage. She took a tentative sip and it lightly gave her tongue a small burn.

"You didn't need to freak out." Xander explained.

"Excuse, but when a man pounces on me and forces himself on me, I feel that freaking out is understandable." Rakka said sharply.

Xander sighed and shifted his long legs forward. "Rakka, lissen, you can't keep makin' a scene like that."

"Alright." Rakka said crossing her legs. "Fine, then the next time a guy jumps on me, I'll just spread my legs wide and let him jackhammer me."

Xander leaned forward and said, "Don't let this ruin the evening."

Rakka swallowed and said, "Alright, alright, but I want to leave soon."

Xander didn't reply, but he leaned back into the armchair and looked at her. "Honey, come here."

Rakka stared at him and found that she was setting the bottle on the floor and was rising out of her seat and across the few feet between their chairs. Xander held his hands out to her and curled his hands along his sides. He urged her onto his lap and against his chest.

She curled her arms around his neck and hugged her body against his. She laid her head on his shoulder as his hands rubbed her back. She felt better as if she was a small child crawling onto her mother's lap to be comforted. It was a strange memory to have in this somewhat similar situation.

Xander kissed her cheek and said, "Feeling better?"

"A little." Rakka replied.

Xander's hand slid down her spine and traveled back up. "Wanna go dance?"

Rakka wanted to say no or that she didn't feel comfortable dancing in her shoes, but she wanted to make it up to Xander for being a pain earlier. "Okay."

* * *

The dancing was better than she thought it would be. Xander led the dance. At first, she was awkward and stiff legged until she finally caught on to the moves. They danced slow due to her high heels. She danced on the balls of her feet bending her legs at each sway and movement.

Xander kept his pelvis near hers and his hands on her hips and waist. She became so familiar with the steps that she was able to close her eyes and move with him. She enjoyed, loved it. It felt like her body was becoming one with his body, and that he was all around her. The music was her pulse and Xander was her blood.

The music stopped and so did Xander. She straightened her legs and felt groggy as if she had been in a deep sleep. Xander led her by the hand off the dance floor and toward some lounge located in the far back of the mansion. It smelled heavily of cigarettes and candles.

Xander selected a small circular area with ring of cushioned seats ringing around a small round table. They settled onto the cushions, but Rakka was more on Xander's lap than she was on a cushion.

Their mouths locked onto each others' and their tongues wrestled. She felt deliriously happy. It was as if their was fire in her blood and it was igniting her passion for him.

"Honey, yer actin' like you wanna go upstairs." Xander said against her mouth.

"Upstairs?"

"Yeah, to one of the bedrooms."

Rakka leaned back to face him. "They'll let us do that?"

"Oh, yeah. We can do whatever we want."

"Alright." She said breathlessly.

"But wait, I need to check some stuff out first."

She furrowed her brow and asked, "What kind of stuff?"

"Work." Xander reassuringly at her.

* * *

Xander didn't want to leave her. More than anything he wanted to grab her by the arm and take her upstairs and fuck her brains out. Yet, he had to please Gibbons before he could do anything to please himself. And that means getting in with Ryo Marin and getting the info on the weapons.

But he reminded himself that he wasn't exactly leaving Rakka alone. Inside one of the small pleasure pearls in her g-string was a tiny little invention from the guys in the Lab. The pearl is actually a little microphone/transmitter. It broadcasts a signal that only certain locators can trace, Xander and Fernado also have. The microphone also records any sound being heard and sends the info through radio frequencies to some small fishing boat about three miles away.

They gave him the pearl like device and Gibbons did say to keep a close eye on the girl. He wondered if the men in black on the fishing boat heard anything strange during the boat trip.

Rakka sighed already feeling lonely. Xander left her on the ring of cushions where they had been making out after dancing. He bought her a bottle of wine and a wine glass and promised her that she would be alright and that he would be back shortly.

She wanted him back now.

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She hadn't touched the bottle nor the glass. She was feeling her passion disappointingly dying down without Xander.

She wasn't alone for long. To her surprise, the blonde and blue eyed man settled into the cushions across from her.

She sat up so suddenly it made her dizzy. He grinned at her showing off clean, perfect teeth and spoke in a voice that held a tint of an accent, "May I join you?"

She stared at him, not sure of what to say to him.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said without loosing his smile.

Rakka straightened in her seat and wished for the hundredth that she had worn something more than what she had one now. She didn't know of anything to say this stranger that insisted in imposing himself on her. She then manage to say, "I'm with someone."

"I know." The man replied as casually as if Rakka had stated that water was wet. "The big guy with the tattoos."

Rakka nodded and crossed her arms and legs. She wondered if it would be rude to just get up and walk away. It certainly would be rude, but she really didn't care right now.

As if he knew what she was going to do, he leaned forward and offered out his hand. "I'm Edward Nilks. And you are?"

She hesitated before taking his and giving it a light shake. "Rakka. . .Laotaner."

"It is a divine pleasure, Miss Laotaner." Edward smiled at her and surprised by leaning forward and kissing the back of her hand. He let go and she drew her hand back onto her lap.

She nodded her head and gave him a soft thank you. She shifted uncomfortably, wanting to be very far away right now. Edward acted as if he didn't notice her discomfort or didn't care. He kept talking at her and she nodded her and gave him short replies.

He told her of places in the world that he had worked in with some Ryo Marin. Some odd places in Europe, Korea, Pakistan, Africa, and the Middle East. He named names and places that meant nothing to her. He also said that worked in selling and trading of something that he referred to loaded heats. Rakka believed that he was talking about sex.

* * *

Xander began his infiltration of Ryo Marin's gang by challenging them to a game of pool. He was winning. He remembered back to the time before the Xander Zone, when all he had was his street smarts, his friends, and pool.

So far, it was off to a great start, Ryo Marin recognized him from his videos and it turned out he was a fan. It wasn't too long before they were talking about foreign sports cars and so on. The talking soon moved on to gambling and there they were around a pool table.

Xander started to plan how he could move the topic over to guns and play the part of an interested customer when the cell phone at his hip started beeping. Xander quickly took it from his hip and opened it. The caller was a Deborah. Gibbons.

"Shit." Xander hissed. What the hell was Gibbons doing? He never contacted him during an operation like this. He looked up at Ryo Marin who was looking curiously at him. He grinned sheepishly and said, "My bitch is calling."

"Aw, just tell her you're busy." Ryo suggested brandishing a pool stick.

"If I said that, then she's gonna ask, 'with what woman?'"

All the guys started laughing while Xander left the gaming room to the far corner of the room. He accepted the call and held it to his ear.

"Mission complete." Gibbons said with an amused voice.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Xander demanded in a hush voice. "I just got here."

"I know, but someone beat you to it."

"Yeah?" Xander figured it was Fernando, but he knew never to give names during an intermission with HQ.

"Not Agent Hi-five. But your woman, Rakka Laotaner."

Xander couldn't speak for a full five seconds, completely stunned. Was Rakka actually an agent too? Sent by Gibbons to test him or just mess with his head or involved in some kind of sick joke.

"I'll explain later." Gibbons said. Xander could swear he could hear the sonuvbitch grinning, stretching that scarred cheek of his. "Leave the area. We have what we need to move in. Get your lady friend and leave the premises now. Agent Hi-Five has already evacuated and I expect you to do the same within the next hour." The cell beeped off when Gibbons cut the connection.

"Shit." Xander muttered as he snapped the cell phone shut.

* * *

Somehow, without her noticing, Edward had slithered along the ring of cushions to be sitting near her. . .like there was barely a centimeter between them.

"You smell nice." Edward whispered into her ear.

Rakka couldn't for the life of her find the courage to get away. He was persistent, he would only call her out on it or worse, follow her. Where the hell was Xander? Edward leaned toward her. Whether to touch her or kiss her, she never knew, because Xander chose that moment to show up.

She thought she would be relieved to see, but the look on his face alarmed her. His jaws and cheeks were tight and his full lips were set straight. His eyes were stared at her hard making her cringe in her seat.

At least this mean look was nothing compared to Riddick's. Not as dark or as life threatening, but it was an angry look all the same.

Xander grabbed her arm and hauled her up off the cushion in one smooth motion. "We got to go."

Rakka stared at him and murmured, "I thought we were going. . .to go upstairs. . ."

"Things changed." Xander replied and pulled her by the arm away.

"Hey, I'll go upstairs with you." Edward called after her.

She didn't even bother to honor that with a reply.

* * *

Xander didn't speak to her at all during the trip back to the cottage. He led her through the pulsing crowd of the party, on the boat he stood near her without speaking or looking at her at all. She stared at him feeling more and more sick and afraid as they got closer and closer back to the main island.

What had happened to cause such a change in attitude in Xander? He had seemed to excited about going to this party and now. . .he seemed mad. . .at her. What the hell did she do to make him mad? Edward? That had to be it. He thought she was cheating on him with Edward. . .how the hell can she cheat on him? They weren't even together. . .despite the fact that she slept with him and is now living with him.

It was almost only them on board. There were a few people standing around. A man that looked like he had been beaten by huge crowd was holding his bleeding nose with a towel and there was a girl sobbing hopelessly into a small handkerchief. Xander and Rakka stood at the far end of the boat away from the others. This gave Rakka the courage to try to break the ice between them.

"Xander. . .is it about that guy back there. . .I didn't. . ."

"It ain't about that." Xander said coldly. He stared at her and said, "Is there something you might wanna tell me?"

She furrowed her brow and said, "No, what are you talking about?"

"You tell me."

Xander, I don't understand."

"Look, mission accomplished. Stop playing games with me."

"What?"

"Did you know I was in the nightclub? Was the would be rapist some John Doe ole ScarFace paid off to help with the poor little girl look? Oh, tell me, did you get paid extra was sleeping with me?"

Rakka felt the blood in her veins chill. Her mind raced with the words he was saying. ScarFace? Mission accomplished? Then it hit her. Xander thought she was trying to get into his pants and to his money. Was that it? It didn't feel right, but what else would it be?

"Xander, it's not what it looks." Rakka said. "I'm not trying to do anything to hurt you. I wasn't staking you out in that nightclub. I mean. . .I was REALLY in trouble with that man. . ."

Xander turned away from her and leaned on the rail looking out toward the ocean. The way he held his head told her that he didn't believe her. She crossed her arms and stared at him.

This was the first time he had ever been. . .mean? Hateful? Neglectful? She didn't understand, she still couldn't comprehend what she could have done. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but he shrugged it away from her hand.

The trip back was so much different than the trip toward the island.

* * *

The car ride back to the cottage was more silent than the return boat ride and just as icy. Xander didn't say a word to her and she knew nothing of what she could say to him. Even though the evening had started out badly with the high teenager, it had become fun especially with the dance.

She felt naked and ugly and Xander had made her feel so good. Now what had happened? What the hell happened?

Xander pulled into the garage of the cottage got out. Rakka got out after him and she waited for him to say something, anything at all. He entered the cottage while she waited. She followed him inside in time to see him go into his bedroom and shut the door.

She didn't want to. It came without her knowing, but it came in a torrent. The tears bled down her cheeks and she wondered why she cared. She wasn't supposed to start liking Xander, hell he looked too much like Riddick for her tastes.

She stormed back into her room and shut and locked the door. She took of the dress that she had worn for him. Then a chilling thought came to her.

What if Xander kicked her out? She had NOTHING. No money to her name, no one she knew, she had no job, not the clothes on her back belong to her. Dammit! Dammit!

She was going to starve to death, may have to one of those homeless people that live in alleys, search through trash cans for food, and sometimes begged outside of banks and court houses. Could she go through that?

All her life, she had always had a roof over her head and food to eat and clothes to wear. Her family wasn't rich, but they always afforded everything they needed to live comfortably in the lower middle class.

She had always taken it for granted until now. She got onto the bed naked, feeling too weak to properly pull on a nightgown or nightshirt and pulled the sheets tightly around her. She wondered if this could be the last night fell asleep in a warm, comfortable bed like this.


	8. Forgiveness

"Interesting place to put the pearl, X." Gibbons said from the LCD screen of the laptop. He was reclined in a large leather seat with a black background and was giving Xander a pleased look. "The girl was an interesting spy."

"I bet." Xander said under his breath. "So what? Is this one of the Gibbons test? Throw me a hot girl like that and see if she can do a better job then me?"

Gibbons arched an eyebrow and said, "Excuse me?"  
"Did you pay her more to sleep with me?" Xander asked. "Or was that a bonus for her or some shit?"

"You think she's under my payroll?" Gibbons said leaning forward completely amused.

"She got the information, did she?"

"She did, but not from trying. The information came through the pearl near her. . .I need not mention it. . .Edward Nilks approached her. He must have been drunk or high, but he gave her all the information to impress her. She's not under my payroll nor is she agent for this organization. She's just a civilian with no background that we have been able to uncover."

Xander looked at the screen and swallowed. "So she's not with you in anyway."

"She's with you as I can see." Gibbons said.

"Shit." Xander hissed.

* * *

She didn't know how long she was asleep before she heard the door open. Nowadays she had become a light sleeper. She sat up and she heard a deep intake of breath. It was Xander at the door and she was naked with the sheets clinging to her legs.

She snatched up the sheets and held them to her chest and said, "What do you want?"

"Rakka, look, I'm sorry for how I treated you on the way back. I. . .I heard some shit and thought you were someone else."

She stared blinkingly at him and said, "Who did you think I was?"

"It doesn't matter." Xander rubbed his forehead and just looked tired. "It was my bad, my mistake, and I regret being a bastard toward you. You didn't deserve it."

"Who did you think I was?" Rakka repeated. "And what kind of shit did you hear about me?"

"It doesn't matter." Xander repeated.

"No, it does matter. It must have been pretty bad for you to treat me like trash. Asking me if I got paid for sleeping with you or if what happened in the night club with that man was an act! I want to know what you heard that made you think I was some scheming fraud trying to get at your money."

"You thought I was thought you were a fraud?" Xander asked looking at her.

"Yes. What did you think I was?"

"It doesn't matter." Xander said.

"It DOES matter." Rakka said wishing she wasn't naked and she didn't rely on Xander so much. "Dammit! I. . ." She felt warmth around her eyes and her voice crack. Damn, she was too emotional about this.

Xander stepped into the bedroom and was approaching her.

"Look, just stay there!" Rakka said throwing up a hand. "This isn't something you can fix with a hug, okay! You did this damage, not some high teenager, YOU did this damage and I am mad at you."

Xander stopped midway to her bed and looked at her. She saw that he felt bad from his face. "Rakka, what can I do to make this right between us?"

"Don't do that!"

"Do what?"

"Don't turn this around and make yourself into the victim!"

"I'm not turning anything around." Xander said shifting his legs. "I'm sorry, Rakka, I'm genuinely sorry. I may have been a little drunk and gullible when I heard that shit. I was wrong to accuse you of those things and I regret it. What can I do to make it up it up to you?"

"You've already done enough to make it up to me a hundred times over." Rakka said rubbing her face, bending her knees, beneath the sheets, to her chest. "God, you took me off the streets, maybe even kept be from becoming a prostitute back in New York. You bought a wardrobe for me and put a roof over my head."

Xander crossed his arms and said, "What else, Rakka, what else?"

"You took me to a doctor in New York and brought me out here." Rakka finished.

Xander leaned forward and planted both large hands on the railing of the bed. "What else, Rakka? Anything you might wanna add?"

"I can't think of anything else." Rakka said. "Food, I guess."

Xander's face tighten into a grimace and he said, "What about tonight? Or earlier today, before I fucked up? The sex? The way you danced with me at the party?"

Rakka couldn't believe the gall of him. She crossed her arms over her knees and gritted her teeth to keep from screaming. Then she said slowly and steadily, "Okay, the sex too, but your dick isn't gold, okay. You can't just walk in here and think feeding me some dick is going to make everything alright."

Xander looked at the floor leaned on the bed rail and sucked his teeth. He looked at her and said, "You are a piece of work, you know that? A complete original woman and I thought I knew all the types of women there was. You just keep me guessing."

Rakka swallowed a lump in her throat and asked, "And how is that?"

Xander leaned away from the bed and said, "I never know what to expect from you. One second, yer this stubborn, strong woman that any man would find challengin'. Then you're this scared little girl who looks like she's gonna run like hell at the drop of a hat. Sometimes I think you're runnin' away from an abusive boyfriend, then I look at you and I think you're too smart and strong to hang around a guy that mistreats you. You are so full of morals and virtue that I start to think of you as Virgin Mary, then the way you danced with me last night. . .Goddamn, I was ready to screw you right there on the dance floor. Sometimes I am so happy with you then there are times I am so pissed off at you I can just strangle the fuckin' life outta ya. You've kept me on my toes since the second I first saw you, you know that?"

Rakka swallowed a lump in her throat and said, "You want me to leave? To go away?"

"Hell, no." Xander said shaking his head. "I want you to stay with me. I want you to live with me, okay? I'm in here apologizin' to you because I don't want you to leave me."

There was a long pause of silence between them. Rakka huddled on the bed and could think of nothing to say. Xander stood away looking at her, looking almost embarrassed. Rakka wanted to say something, but she didn't know the appropriate thing to say. She didn't know what she wanted. True, she would have good times with Xander, but sometimes she became so afraid of everything around her. She couldn't leave Xander, she had no choice but to stay with him. She had nowhere else to go.

Xander graciously broke the silence. He ran his hands over his shaved head along with taking a deep breath. "Rakka, I ain't stupid and I ain't naïve. I know you got nowhere else to go, no money, and you say you have no family. I'm not going to use that to make you to stay with me. If you want to leave, I'll give you the money to get you on your feet and get you a job."

Rakka swallowed and thought this was best for them both. For her to get out of his. . .hair. . .and for her to find her own place into this strange century. Before she could say anything, Xander continued.

"But I'd rather you'd stay. I mean, damn, I think we could have somethin' great together. I wanna reset the clock back to before I fucked up so badly. Damn, Rakka, I really want you to stay. I really do."

He was short of begging her to stay. And she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that if she so chose, he would give her the money to live on her own and find her a job as he said. And he would not say one thing against it. It was so much more than what Riddick would ever do for her.

Now it was time to make a decision and she needed to make it now. She owed him that much.

"I'll stay." Rakka said. "We can forget about what happened and just go on as if it never happened."

"It won't happen again." Xander said nodding his head solemnly. "I won't believe shit about you without checking your side of it first, kay?"

She nodded.

Xander came around the railing of the bed and sat on the edge of it. She wanted to ask what he had heard and who said what, but she knew it was best not to ask.

"Rakka, you're beautiful, you know that. And I'm not just saying that to sleep with you."

"And my being naked doesn't help that beautiful statement does it?" She asked feeling the fluttering weight of desire low in her stomach. One second she was about to cry now she was getting horny. His next words made her body ooze with desire.

"Honey, let me see you."

She let the sheet drop to her lap and he came to her.

Hs hands were like a soothing balm on her nerves and emotions. His warm mouth touched her face and she felt her insides tighten with desire. It was amazing at how her body reacted to him. Liquid fire spread through her veins from his mouth and her skin ached with desire from his rough hands over her breasts and between her legs and down her back and over her buttocks.

Yet, her body ached to touch him as it ached for him to touch her. Hers hands trailed over hard muscle lined with smooth caramel skin and a velvety bald scalp. The taste of his sweat and mouth was like sweet wine on her tongue.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to her as she shifted backwards beneath him to comfortable spread her thighs apart for his hips.

"You already apologized." Rakka said eager for him to enter her, body wet and sore for him.

He was so much taller than her that her view was of his shoulder and neck. Xander shifted weight to one arm and his free arm and touched her chin. He tilted her head upward so that they could see each other face to face. What she saw nearly made her heart melt away.

She couldn't remember a time when a man looked at her like this. His brown eyes were deep and held a warmth and tenderness that she had only seen in her parents' eyes, but this was different from parental love, so much different. The gaze was intense and the touch was gentle. . .and it terrified her.

"I know, but I just wanted you to know, honey, I'd never hurt you. I am so sorry about earlier, but I promise you, that is the last time I'll hurt you, okay?"

"Okay."

He kissed her and slid into her body. It didn't hurt, only a slight discomfort as he stretched muscles inside her. Her stomach seemed to fill with warm water as he stroked back and forwards into her. She exhaled and tilted her head backwards and felt full lips on her mouth. Xander must have mistaken that she wanted a kiss. She breathed into his mouth and her nails dug into his skin leaving thin white lines.

He came deeply inside her and she pushed and she ejaculated as well.

Xander could feel her sweet juices of ecstasy roll down around shaft as he withdrew. He kissed her forward and said, "God, honey, I love it when you cum."

She panted, too spent to speak. She just pull him down onto her into a sleepy hug. However, the look of love in his eyes haunted her.

* * *

The bed was twin size so she was pretty much squished, but comfortably, against the wall. Xander spooned her body, his thick arms around her. His hard warm flesh all around her, including his scent. She felt a firm kiss on her shoulder and she smiled lazily. 

"Morning." She yawned.

"Mornin'." He replied. "We need to have more fights it our makeup sex is gonna be off the charts."

"No, don't say that." She said touching the back of his hands and just enjoyed being held.

"We gotta get up soon."

"Why?" She asked.

"Gotta catch a plane."

"What?" She sat up, partially leaning against the wall. Xander kept his arm across her lap and looked up at her.

"We're leavin' Hawaii this morning and going back to New York City for Christmas."

Rakka stared at him and said, "But, we just got here. . .I mean we spent two days here and now you want to leave?"

"Hawaii ain't really Christmasy." Xander explained leaning his head against her hip. "Now New York with all the snow and lights is more like Christmas."

"But you spent so much on this trip." Rakka said not understanding.

"Honey, I don't mean to brag, but what I spend on this trip is no big deal. Or we can go up north and find a little cottage alone on a snowy hill somewhere." He nipped the bottom of her ribcage.

She jerked away from the tickling feeling and said, "Does being rich make you think you so fickle minded?"

Xander laughed and rolled away and off the bed. "It's up to you what we do for Christmas. Just so long as we leave Hawaii."

Rakka shifted more comfortably onto the bed and straightened her legs out before her. Her body still oozed evidence of their sex from last night. Wherever she wanted to go? She wasn't sure, she knew that Xander had the funds to take her anywhere. He more than once proved that money was no object.

"Well, if you say that being around snow is more Christmas like, than let's go back to New York."

"Great."


End file.
